Echoes of Angels Who Won't Return
by Akino Ame
Summary: In the span of five months, the unthinkable happens. As an empire rises in one world, friendships shatter in another. And a ghost is the only one who might be able to help. Part of the With Broken Wings universe.
1. May You Find Some Comfort Here

_"In the arms of the angel,  
__Fly away from here  
__From this cold, dark hotel room,  
__And the endless nights you fear  
__You are pulled from the wreckage  
__Of your silent reverie  
__You're in the arms of the angel  
__May you find some comfort here."  
__Sarah McLachlan, "Angel"_

Echoes of Angels Who Won't Return  
Introduction: "May You Find Some Comfort Here"

One Person.

_In books, TV, and movies, _One Person_ can always make a difference. And in history and religion, _One Person's _existence has determined the fate of the world in small ways: Nero burned Rome; Esther saved the Persian Jews; Moses freed the Israelites from enslavement in Egypt; Jesus Christ, the Buddha, and Confucius each established religions that have withstood the test of time; Hitler conquered Western Europe; Mahatma Gandhi peacefully fought for the freedom of India; and Rosa Parks began a war against inequality. But few people in the world seem to think that _One Person_ can change the course of the future forever._

_Or can one? That mistake would prove to be fatal._

_With the death of eleven-year-old Osamu Ichijouji, his despaired eight-year-old brother Ken heeded Yukio Oikawa's call and became the Digimon Kaiser. His ruthless crimes were only stopped by the death of his partner Wormmon, which led to the disappearance of the Kaiser's spirit. That led to the rise of Archnemon, Mummymon, and Oikawa, BlackWarGreymon's sacrifice, BelialVamdemon's defeat, and Oikawa's demise. Before the Chosen could stop it, their friendship shattered, and the Kaiser infected eleven-year-old Kouichi Kimura, invoking the murderous emotions that he soon released on his twin brother Kouji Minamoto. And with the loss of the Light came the reign of the Darkness. _One Person's _death led to darkness led to death led to freedom led to death led to a bittersweet victory led to darkness led to death led to darkness._

One person_, taken for granted._

One Person.

_Wow. _One Person_ apparently _can _make a difference._


	2. One Regret From Yesterday

_"Everybody's got something_  
_They had to leave behind  
__One regret from yesterday  
__That just seems to grow with time."  
__S Club 7—"Never Had a Dream Come True"_

Echoes of Angels Who Won't Return  
Prologue, May and December, 2002: "One Regret From Yesterday"

_One month after the defeat of Lucemon and the rise of Ken Ichijouji as the Digimon Kaiser  
_If someone asked Kouji Minamoto his feelings on the subject, he'd say it was about time.

And it probably was. After nearly a month of disguised blushes, embarrassed speechlessness, and turning to Kouji for advice, Kouichi and Izumi were finally going out. It was true that at one time, Kouji had a bit of a crush on Izumi influenced only by hormones that he hadn't learned to control yet, but he was well over it now, thinking of her as no more than one of his closest friends. If anything, he was relieved; now he could spend more time on his music than he did on telling them to get together. Besides, things were getting stressful at home: His stepmother had just found out something important at the doctor's, and it was causing her to be more emotional toward everything. Kouji had caught her crying late one night, and it had done nothing more than to disturb him. He hoped whatever it was she'd found out, it wasn't cancer; Kouichi had said that was what killed their grandmother. During the past month, he'd actually become somewhat close to his stepmother, and he didn't want to go through the agony Kouichi had at watching their grandmother slowly slip away. His father began worrying more and more about money—something unusual for a family as well off as they were—and was searching the phone book for different doctors. Add that stress to a brother and a friend continually asking him for advice on love—a subject he had literally no knowledge of and no experience in—and it was enough to make any sane eleven-year-old a raving lunatic. But even though he wasn't just an average, everyday, sane eleven-year-old due to the special circumstances of his emotional revolution the previous month, he was completely relieved when his one piece of advice: "Leave me alone and go talk to him/her" had been successful.

It was May 17, a Saturday, and Kouji was just now realizing how fortunate he was that Japan's regular six-day school week had been shortened to an American-like five. Though many of the more overachieving students had been upset with the change, he was sure there would be days when they would be as relieved as he was now. A couple of years before, he would have been sitting in class, attempting to pass Japanese, English, math, science, and social studies; but now, he could just sit on his bed, trying to compose a song on his guitar.

The small amplifier was turned down low so he wouldn't disturb anyone. The blue-and-white instrument strummed out different notes until Kouji found the right ones and put them down in a notebook. He wished his friends knew how to play some instruments—the music was supposed to have a slight jazz or blues quality to it that couldn't be captured in a mildly distorted guitar alone. He'd determined that he'd need a drummer and perhaps a bassist for rhythm, a keyboardist for the melody, and a saxophonist for harmony. The guitar would be only to assist in the more upbeat sections, but he unfortunately needed to use it to get the sound of each of the notes as well.

As he played the parts of the music he'd already decided to use, a flash of light caught his attention, alerting him to the two eleven-year-olds standing by his door. He didn't mind Izumi and Kouichi's sudden appearance as much as he minded his father's Polaroid camera and the recently snapped photo Izumi held.

"Not a bad photo," she commented. "It's one of the few I actually managed to get of you."

"I guess we finally figured out the secret to taking his picture," Kouichi joked. "We just have to catch him off-guard."

"Are you done being disgustingly cute?" Kouji asked.

"Not quite," Izumi answered, holding out the camera again. Before she could snap another picture, Kouji grabbed the camera from her hands.

"Expect revenge," he warned.

"Sure, _ototo-chan_," Kouichi replied. "We'll be waiting for your wrath."

"Are you three ready?" the twins' father checked, coming up the stairs.

"Yes, Mr. Minamoto."

"We're ready, Dad."

"Yeah, Dad."

Though they had spoke in unison, their affirmation was easy to decipher. Kousei Minamoto grabbed his keys and led the children to the car. The three former Chosen Children buckled up in the back while Satomi Minamoto, the twins' stepmother, made her way to the front seat.

"Your stepmom looks different," Izumi whispered. "No offense or anything, but has she put on a little weight?"

"Dad keeps telling her to eat more," Kouji whispered back. "All this happened since she came back from the doctor."

"Is she sick?" Kouichi asked. His brother merely shrugged.

The somber mood in the car soon brightened once they reached the picnic grounds. Tomoki had managed to convince/bribe his older brother into driving the other three there. While Kouichi had packed a baseball and bat, Takuya had brought a soccer ball, which was lucky when they realized just how impossible it was to play baseball with only three people per team. It was no surprise that Takuya's team won, but Kouji managed to snap a very good blackmail photo of the goggle head and Tomoki in their victory pose. Takuya had threatened Kouji with death after that, but his attitude changed when they noticed the so-called "lovebirds" roosting near a tree. Kouji had managed to sneak over and snap a picture of their kiss, but Kouichi saw him and tried to shove him away.

"All right, Kouji, after that stunt you pulled, guess who's not on our team," Kouichi decided once a rematch soccer game had been agreed upon.

"Fine by me," he answered.

"Kouji, Kouichi, can you come here for a second?" their father requested. Confused, they walked over to their father and stepmother.

"What is it?" Kouji questioned.

"We have something important to tell you," Satomi informed.

The chaotic serenity was then shattered by two distinct voices yelling, "What?"

* * *

The news of their stepmother's pregnancy had been a complete shock to them, but they readily accepted the fact that they would have a younger half-sibling. Finally, two days before Christmas, they found themselves in the waiting room of the hospital while their half-sister was being born. 

"You can come in now," the nurse notified them. Silently and anxiously, they entered to see their stepmother sitting in bed, holding out a tiny baby for their father to see.

"Kouichi, Kouji, come here," Satomi called. Carefully, she placed the newborn in Kouichi's arms. He had the same nervous look on his face that Kouji had when they'd been invited to care for the Baby I and II Digimon in the Village of Beginnings.

"Wow…" was all he could say before he gently handed her to Kouji.

The baby opened her bright blue eyes to stare at him, almost as though absorbing his facial features into her memory. Though she didn't have the full ability of sight yet, that was exactly what it appeared she was doing. Kouichi came over and received the same treatment.

"Get to know us quickly," Kouji whispered. "We're your brothers, and we'll be watching you for the rest of your life."  
_

* * *

_

The last line of AiM's "Tenshi no Inori" softly hung in the air at the Orimoto house as the remaining four members of the Chosen Children's hard-tested friendship sat in the living room in the middle of the most taxing session of waiting they'd ever been through. 

"You don't think something might be wrong, do you?" Tomoki asked.

"I don't think so," Takuya replied. "They'd call otherwise. Besides, I think it usually takes this long. It did with my little brother. I think."

The doorbell rang for at least the third time that day, and for at least the third time, they all jumped up to get it. This time, instead of packages or salespeople, the twins stood outside. They were bombarded with a million questions before they even walked in the door. No answers were given while the two removed their coats, causing the others to burn with anxiety.

"It was incredible," Kouichi described once he and his brother got settled. "I've held Baby Digimon before, but never a _human _baby. She was so tiny…"

"What did she look like?" Izumi asked.

"Like he said, tiny," Kouji answered. "Brown hair like Satomi, blue eyes like us."

"Did you get to hold her?" Tomoki questioned.

"Yeah, both of us got to before they put her in the basinet," Kouichi replied.

"She looked at us like she was trying to memorize who we were," Kouji added.

"What did they name her?" Junpei asked.

"Kouri," the brothers replied in unison, their tone slightly annoyed.

"Kouri?" Takuya repeated.

"We didn't name her," Kouichi responded.

"It was our father and grandfather," Kouji explained. "They're also the ones that named us. They have a habit of coming up with horrible names."

"At least they didn't attach a number to the end of her name like they did for us," Kouichi sighed.

"And we only barely stopped them from doing that," Kouji added. "You don't know how hard it was to convince them not to name her Koumi."

"So if you're Light, and Kouichi's Darkness, what's she going to be?" Takuya joked.

"Hopefully, she'll _never_ have to go through what we did," Kouichi interrupted. "It wasn't right for us, and it certainly won't be right for her. No one should ever be tortured with fighting a sibling or having to watch one die."

Izumi passed around sodas to everyone. "A toast?"

"To Kouri Minamoto, and the future," Takuya decided.

The soda bottles struck each other gently with the wish for good luck. Not a single person thought of the last words Kouichi said, but they would return to haunt the children for many years to come.

_Ototo-chan: little brother_

_Koumi: When applied to the rules of the Kimura-Minamoto family, the name would mean "light three" or "third light." Ri from Kouri (pronounced Ko-ree) holds no significance in the name._

**I do not own _Digimon_ or the songs used in this. The "lovebirds" are a name for my friend Melissa and her boyfriend Dan—copyright to Valerie, the Blue Poet. And I probably won't be using translations for words I put in the original "With Broken Wings"—there's really no reason to. **


	3. Anger of Angels Who Won't Return

_"Out of the island,  
__Into the highway  
__Past the places where you might have turned  
__You never did notice  
__But you still hide away the  
__Anger of angels who won't return."  
__Vertical Horizon—"Everything You Want"_

Echoes of Angels Who Won't Return  
Chapter One, January: "Anger of Angels Who Won't Return"

She sat on the beach, watching a deep red sun descend into the calm blue waters of the Pacific Ocean, as splashes of pink, orange, and purple yielded to an endless sea of rich blue in the evening sky. Waves lapped up against her bare feet, leaving sea foam in their wake. She wriggled her toes in the wet sand, embracing the beautiful serenity around her. How long had it been since her adventure in the Digital World? The emergency to save Kouichi forced them to go back to the day they left in April of 2002. It was January of 2003 now, and it was as almost as if that fiasco had been a dream. She was back in the Real World, no longer dealing with evil creatures that wanted to destroy the world; but rather, evil teachers who wanted her to fail every subject. The only way she knew she'd actually gone on that journey were her self-discovery and her friends and theirs. Never before had any of the six had companions as close as they had now, and their friendship was something that would last a lifetime.

The streetlights cast a shadow onto the sand beside her. Surprised, she turned to see a familiar boy with dark hair and blue eyes.

"Kouji, what are you doing here?" she asked. "I didn't expect to see you." He was silent, even more so than usual. His eyes reflected a combination of anger and pain, just as they used to and always had seemed to. There was something wrong with him; he was too much like his old self for nothing to be. It was then that she noticed that red burns covered the palms of his hands and traced a ring around his neck. "What's wrong?" He remained mute and turned to leave. "Kouji, please, answer me. We're friends; I can help."

"Friends?" he repeated. It was his voice, and yet it was not. The sound was the same, but it echoed, sounding unearthly, ethereal. It was as though he had stopped living in that realm of being. "If we're friends, why did you leave me to die?"

She stared at him in shock, her mouth slightly agape. Left? To die? "What are you talking about?"

"You know," he replied. "You abandoned me."

"Kouji, this isn't funny!"

"Does it look like I'm laughing?" His voice was sharp and angered. She bit her lip to prevent tears from escaping. Kouji had never used this tone with her personally. He had been one of her closest friends, closer still as the brother of her boyfriend. "You abandoned me. You let me die."

She reached out to touch him, but when she touched his jacket, the images of his death bombarded her mind: his fall as Kouichi's newfound whip released itself from his neck, the few spasms his body created from the electrical shock, his half-horrified and pain-filled face, the faintly audible breaths that were too shallow for him to live on… Black snow fell all around her, turning the sand gray. Black feathers soon followed, as though from the wings of a raven, or of a fallen angel.

"You let me die!"

"No, I didn't, Kouji," she pleaded. "You have to believe me. We just weren't able to get there in time. I tried…" She began crying, remembering how she'd cradled him in her arms as he took his last three breaths.

"Then why did you leave me alone in the first place? You said yourself that it didn't seem right. Why didn't you come with me? You could have helped."

She was unable to answer. Tears found their way from her eyes to the gray sand as the waves swept up to wash them away. The tears seemed small and insignificant, just as she felt at that moment. What were a few human tears to an ocean like this? What was an eleven-year-old girl to two worlds full of people and Digimon? What was one boy's death to the grand universal cycle of life and of death?

Kouji's voice was considerably softer when he finally spoke again, but there was no trace of compassion in it:

"You abandoned me, Izumi. Why?"

Izumi Orimoto slowly opened her teary eyes to the bright light of morning. Her alarm clock radio was softly playing Kae Araki's "Yasashii Ame" in her bedroom, but in the midst of her nightmares, she'd been unable to hear it.

Reaching over, the nearly twelve-year-old girl turned off the soft jazz sound and continued to lie in her bed. She had no desire to hear about a gentle rain when a torrential downpour had just shattered her world.

_I was hoping it was only a dream,_ she thought, watching the snow fall down outside her window. But the nightmare was only beginning.

* * *

Nine-year-old Iori Hida gripped his kendo sword with trembling hands as he continued his morning practice. His grandfather watched him while Upamon—Iori's Baby II partner Digimon—munched down on some muffins they'd picked up at I-mart, a local grocery store run by the family of one of Iori's friends.

Iori's breaths were rapid and troubled as he slashed his weapon. Normally, the martial art calmed him and freed his thoughts, but after the day before… It had been bad enough when they had to kill SkullSatamon and MarineDevimon, but watching Oikawa die was more than he could bear. And why? The man had kidnapped Ken and a truckload of other kids, attacked the Chosen Children, agreed to house BelialVamdemon, and even threatened the young boy's life once or twice. Why should he care?

Because despite everything he'd done, that man had known Hiroki Hida.

Iori lost his father, Hiroki, at a young age when the officer took a bullet intended for a government official. The death had quieted the boy, causing him to develop manners and insight advanced beyond his years. He had few friends in his grade, but many friends nonetheless. And as a Chosen Child, he had the privilege and honor of entering a world beyond his wildest imaginations.

"Iori!" his grandfather called.

"Yes, sensei?" he questioned.

"Your mother called. She's wondering why we aren't at the breakfast table, where we'll have to be due to a small digital creature with quite a large appetite."

"I'm sorry if Upamon caused any trouble," Iori apologized, bowing deeply. "I didn't want him to disturb Mom, so I brought him with us."

"It's all right, Iori," the elder Hida replied, seeing past the mask his grandson wore over his emotions. "But we had better head home before your mother wonders what's happened to us."

"Yes, Grandfather."

Chikara Hida watched Iori pack his gear and walk out with Upamon in his arms. He did not know what had happened the previous day to scar his only grandchild so badly, but he prayed with all his heart that he would not lose Iori like how he'd lost Hiroki.

* * *

Takuya Kanbara walked out to the living room to see his younger brother, Shinya, playing their Playstation 2 system. Normally, on any day, especially Sundays like this, the goggle-headed boy was impossible to wake, and spent hours on end in bed; however, after the events of the previous night, he'd been unable to sleep.

"You look tired, Takuya. Are you okay?" Shinya asked.

_No, _he thought. He'd just lost one of his best friends, and at the hands of another friend, no less. How could anything ever be "okay"?

"Yes."

The word was automatic—he didn't want to go through an explanation. Perhaps that was why Kouji used to ignore people. His tactic usually worked, as did Takuya's now. Shinya answered, "Okay," and returned to his game—_.hack/INFECTION_, about a boy named Kite in an online RPG called "The World," trying to find out why his friend, the legendary Orca, was attacked by a virus and rendered comatose. It reminded Takuya much of his current situation, only there had been no question about Kouji's condition. He had completely stopped breathing, and Izumi hadn't been able to find his heartbeat. He was not comatose or unconscious. He had died. And there was no way to undo it, like with Kouichi. Takuya now bitterly regretted the miracle that brought back the older twin. How were they to know that this would come at a price, like so many other things? How were they to know that to resurrect one brother from the realm of death, they would later have to sacrifice the other? Why should the innocent have to suffer? Why should a young boy, who had been put through more tests and grief than most men far older than he and still survived with the blessings of a family and friends he had been deprived of, lose everything in the single instant of death's kiss? It, like everything else in this accursed world they called reality, was unfair.

* * *

Izumi stepped into the shower and turned the hot water on full blast.  
Never before had she felt so dirty.  
Death clung to her.

Before eating breakfast, Iori went to the sink and turned on the warm water.  
He always washed his hands before eating, but now it was vital.  
He needed to hide somewhere from the ghosts of the past.

She lathered soap onto her body and began scrubbing viciously.  
Her vicious scrubbing soon became desperate as her nightmare returned in the shower.  
"Kouji, no, please!" she begged. "I would never abandon you!"  
All she wanted was to be left alone.

He placed the soap on his hands like always, but this time he scrubbed his hands.  
He was a man possessed as he scoured his hands, trying to wash away that death.  
How many had he lost? His father, Oikawa, BlackWarGreymon, the evil Digimon…  
Why did they haunt him now?

Kouji's voice was still fresh in her mind, crying out for justice.  
The only way she could fight him was to keep washing and pushing him away, though it wasn't that she wanted to do.  
Her skin turned bright red from her maddened attempts to cleanse herself from the essence of death.  
But still, the more she tried, the more she saw him standing in front of her.  
Finally, she collapsed in tears, the hot water pelting her body.  
There was no way to wash away death.

The words of Oikawa's desires haunted his psyche, filling him with madness.  
To fight the insanity, he continued to scrub his hands, eventually peeling away his skin.  
At least two layers peeled away, but he ignored them.  
He peeled off the dead skin and kept going.  
He could not give in, or risk losing to the darkness forever.  
It would be quite a sad fate for a Chosen Child.

"Kouji, stop!" she cried as her mother broke open the door to the bathroom.  
Forcefully, the older woman placed her in a towel.  
"Izumi, what happened?" she asked.  
"Kouji, no!" she continued to cry.

Finally, blood began to show on his hands, worrying his elders.  
His grandfather rapidly turned off the faucet while his mother pulled him away.  
"Iori?" Upamon questioned. "Iori, what's wrong?"  
The young boy was still in shock.

Kouji stared at Izumi, no emotion on his face.

The specters of the past seemed to surround Iori with their memory.

"Izumi, is this about last night?" her mother demanded.

"Iori, please, you have to tell us what's wrong," his mother urged.

She couldn't answer…

…all he could do was cry.

* * *

Yutaka Himi walked into his younger brother's room in Shinjuku, Japan. Nine-year-old Tomoki sat on his bed, holding a white-and-green electronic device.

"Tomoki, do you have a minute?" No answer. "Mrs. Orimoto called. She said your friend Izumi collapsed in the shower." No reply. "She's okay, but she's telling a strange story about something that happened last April." No reaction. "Tomoki, about these Digimon…do they have something to do with what happened last night?" No response. "What _did_ happen, anyway?" After seeing that his brother remained in his catatonic state, he turned and began to leave.

"It all started when we got strange messages on our cell phones," Tomoki began, his small voice choked by tears. Yutaka turned and pulled up a chair close to him, sitting on it backwards while his chin was placed in his folded arms. "We were told to go to the Shibuya train station—all of us. Five of us were chosen; the rest were eventually sent back home. We were sent to a place called the Digital World, where we found things called Spirits and became Digimon ourselves. We then found a sixth kid, Kouichi, who was being controlled by the enemy. He was our friend Kouji's twin brother. Kouichi had separated from his body by accident, and he tried to go back after learning he was the key to joining Darkness and Light. But the enemy, Lucemon, scanned his soul and trapped him. When the battle was over and we were sent back, we found Kouichi in the hospital, brain-dead from a mysterious heart attack according to the doctors. But we knew he was that way because of a fall from the stairs at the station. We had never seen Kouji so terrified. He began crying, and one of his tears fell on Kouichi's forehead. Somehow, that saved him." The more he talked, the more tightly he clenched his device.

"Is that thing the Spirit?"

"No. This is a digivice, a D-scanner, and it holds our Spirits. When Kouji revived Kouichi, our digivices became cell phones again. For a year, we thought it was all over; but last night, our phones became D-scanners again. Because of that, we knew something was wrong."

"What was it that happened?"

Tears definitely rolled down his cheeks this time. As he told his story, it became harder and harder to choke back the pain that was now all he knew.

"I think I'm getting a pretty good idea of what happened last night," the elder brother commented. "I remember your friends from that picnic last year. Was Kouji just a bystander that got pulled into this?"

"He was one of the five original Chosen."

"Chosen?"

"Chosen Children. The Legendary Warriors. Us."

"Mm-hmm. I think I understand now."

Rather than answering, Tomoki continued staring at his digivice. He had once spoken of fighting for hope. Where was that hope now that he needed it?

* * *

Takuya drank his third cup of orange juice the way one would drink an alcoholic beverage. After receiving a call from Izumi's mother, he'd been forced to tell his parents and brother about his time in the Digital World. They were in shock afterward—they still sat in the same position at the kitchen table, even though ten minutes had passed. Becoming tired of the silence, he walked outside, nearly tripping on a half-dead dog.

_What's wrong with this guy? _he silently asked, examining the dog. It looked familiar to him somehow, but he didn't know why. Quickly, he ran back in, past his frozen family, and grabbed a bowl of water. The unfortunate animal eagerly lapped up the water, regaining its strength. When it was done, Takuya carefully reached for the tag on its collar, which gave the name and address of the family that owned him: a family in Yokohama by the name of Minamoto.

"What?" he cried. Something felt wrong; something felt _very_ wrong. He ran inside, the dog at his heels, and rapidly headed for the phone. Unfortunately, his father had recovered and was now trying to make sense out of the story he'd been told.

"Takuya, what you've just told us is…"

"Dad, I can't talk right now."

"No, you will."

"Dad!" His voice was stern and serious. "I'm sorry. But right now, there's something I need to take care of. And I'll need the last three Chosen to help me."

He dialed the others and explained the situation. Within minutes, they met at the charred remains of the Minamotos' home. Nothing remained of the once lovely home aside from broken and burned tiles from the roof, ashes, some surviving support beams, and a broken and melted string from Kouji's guitar. Nothing living or dead was in sight.

"I can't believe this," Junpei declared. "Who could have done this?"

"Do you really have to ask?" Takuya demanded bitterly. Izumi lowered her head and allowed a single tear to land on the ashes.

"There's nothing left," she whispered. "No body, no survivors… Nothing."

"He had to die, didn't he?" Takuya commented. "He just had to leave us at a time like this!" He kicked a burnt roof tile and faced the sky, yelling to the heavens. "Is this your idea of a fucking joke? Is it, Kouji? Well, we're not laughing!"

_"Does it look like I'm laughing?"_ The words from the dream echoed in Izumi's mind.

"This is the worst thing I've seen," Yutaka Himi decided, removing a pair of dark sunglasses from his eyes. "I can't believe anyone could do this to his own family."

"I had to tell Yutaka _onii-chan_ about us," Tomoki admitted timidly.

The elder Himi brother sifted through the rubble, searching for any trace of…anything. "It's unbelievable. Though I only met him once, Kouichi struck me as a good kid…loyal to his friends and close to his family. He wouldn't have killed them."

"Tell him that," Takuya cynically remarked. "He's the one that killed his brother."

"Yeah. I know what happened to Kouji. I couldn't believe it either. Whatever happened on that beach is a mystery only they know. It's too bad that neither can tell his story." His voice was calm and compassionate. "I don't think this fire was meant to kill everyone else; I think it was just to destroy all trace of Kouji's existence. Their family may still be alive."

"What now?" Izumi asked.

"I don't think it's safe for any of you to return home," their newfound confidant confessed. "Kouichi may come and do the same against you. But you will need to pack your necessities, so do that." It was suddenly aware to him that all four children wore the exact same clothes they had the previous night. It was as if they were trying to keep things exactly as they used to be. "One of my old teachers might be able to help—Kae Watanabe. She no longer teaches, but she runs a sort of youth group that could shelter you four if trouble does come. If anything worse happens, she'll get you somewhere even safer. And she'll find a place to hide our families—I think that world you went to last April would be best: the Digital World. I don't want the same incident repeating itself." His green eyes were calm and unwavering as he continued, almost reminding them of Kouji, but it was a different kind of calm. He made eye contact with each of the four, but it was not uncomforting. "I don't blame you for taking photographs or anything like that with you, but pack light. Don't bring extra clothes—Kae will probably be able to scavenge for some. She's got a favorite kid, a boy named Kage, and he's resourceful enough to get whatever you'll need. Just take a few things and meet me at our house. Call if you need directions." He took Tomoki and was about to leave when one last thought crossed his mind. "And don't try and think of Kouji that way. I know you all had good times together, so remember those when you think of him. It will be hard, but don't let his death kill you."

"He's right."

Normally, the response would have been from Takuya, the self-proclaimed leader of the group, but in actuality, little Tomoki had said it. Though he was the youngest of the group, he was the first to speak.

"Kouji was our friend," he continued. "We can't forget that. He wasn't someone who just died—he was a friend that we all cared about. And he cared about us too, though we sometimes didn't see it. That is the one thing we can't forget."

"Right then," Takuya agreed. "We'll all promise not to let Kouji's memory be in vain. We'll remember the good times we had, the bad ones, and the ones where we just got into more trouble than we could handle." Everyone's face was set with the memories. "Those were _our_ experiences, and that was how our friendship was created. We can't forget that fact. We couldn't stop him from dying before, but we can do something now. We won't let him die."

No more words were uttered. The dog whined softly and rubbed up against Izumi's leg. Then, in the exact opposite fashion of how they'd entered, they exited into another flurry of snow.

* * *

Iori sat in the hospital garden, holding Upamon. Earlier that week, he'd been admitted to the psychiatric ward, but the doctors had decided he was calm enough to be in this controlled environment. Better, they allowed him to keep Upamon with him, provided the small creature didn't cause any trouble. Iori was glad; he didn't think he'd survive otherwise.

"What is that thing?" asked a young boy with black hair and blue eyes. The boy looked to be his age, and his hair was just reaching past his neck—probably because he wasn't mentally steady enough to be in the same room with a person carrying scissors to cut said hair. But one look into his heaven-azure eyes dispelled any notion that he was unhealthy. No patient could ever look so alive. But perhaps that was why he was a patient: He was alive in a dead world. "That thing on your lap?"

"I'm not a thing!" Upamon protested. "I'm a Digimon!"

"Wow!" the boy declared. "It talked!"

"Of course I talk! All Digimon can talk!"

"Upamon," Iori addressed. "Don't get too agitated or they'll kick you out." It was still the first week, and he didn't want any trouble to begin.

"Sorry," Upamon apologized.

"My name is Akemi Miyahara," the boy introduced. "I know it's a girl's name, but my mom named me that. The social workers said that she was very sick—I don't know what though, but I think it's why I'm sick too. Who are the two of you?"

"I'm Upamon, and this is my partner, Iori."

"Why are you in the hospital, Iori?" Akemi questioned.

"Obsessive-compulsive disorder and severe depression," he answered. "I saw too many people die, and I had to kill, so they say these problems arise from post-traumatic stress disorder."

"Oh," Akemi replied. "Is it from the darkness that covered the world?"

"Yes."

"The doctors say I have schizophrenia. It means I imagine stuff that I think is real and talk to myself when I think someone else is there. They also say I'm bipolar." Iori nodded, showing his understanding. "I take medicines to stay calm or fight the depression, but they sometimes interfere with my schizophrenia medicine. Are you taking medicine for your depression?"

"Yes, but it doesn't help me with what I've seen. Nothing can ever erase that." Akemi nodded. No matter how advanced medicine was, there was no pill that could wipe clean the slate of the past.

* * *

Reiji Takamoto sat in detention at his rather classy high school in Tokyo, Japan. But rather than look dejected for being locked up on such a beautiful afternoon, he suppressed a grin and let his dancing eyes do his speaking. The nearly eighteen-year-old's punishment had been well worth it—he'd successfully discredited his least efficient teacher.

Though biology was his best subject, Mr. Toruyama was his worst teacher. The man simply didn't know how to teach a class. Rather than school them in the workings of the science of life, he gave them study guides and let them teach themselves. But he hadn't counted on his most troublemaking student on being a complete genius at the subject. Takamoto had taken it upon himself to culture a homemade bacterium in a hospital near Mt. Fuji and place a sample on a glass slide. The symptoms were fever and genetic interference, as proved on a laboratory specimen, so the teacher had claimed the discovery of his own, praising it as a new virus! But Takamoto showed him by dropping a single grain of penicillin on the bacterium, eradicating it. Because the antibiotic killed it, the specimen was not a virus, and so the school realized his inability to teach high school science. Takamoto received detention for tampering with a teacher's work, although it had been for a good cause. Fortunately for the student, he hadn't mentioned how he'd come across that bacterium sample, so it saved him quite a deal of trouble with the police.

"Time's up, Mr. Takamoto," the detention director informed. "You're free to go." The redhead with steely gray eyes got up and left, soon encountering his best friend, Chideta Miyagami.

"What? You didn't head to the dojo?" he asked, noting the school's uniform was still on the other young man.

"One day isn't enough for everyone to miss us," Miyagami answered. "And I'm sure Sensei doesn't miss us at all."

"Well, serves him right for taking the fun out of martial arts."

"Right as usual."

"Well, detention was the same old bore as usual."

"But it was better than being arrested. You know, if you keep making all that trouble, the Kaiser will come looking for you."

"Shh!" Takamoto hushed, his lighthearted expression growing darker. He looked around the area, making sure that no one else was about. After the Kaiser's appearance two weeks before, no place on Earth felt safe to him or to any other members of the secret Resistance. "The Kaiser's up to a lot of things that just feel wrong. It's just too unusual that all those world leaders disappear and he takes command of Earth, opening the doors to that Digital World."

"You don't think he killed them?"

"No. I think—I _hope _the Resistance got them to safety. But… Whispers among the Resistance tell a story that shatters the Kaiser's perfect image. They say he killed his own brother in cold blood. If he could do that, who knows what he's capable of?"

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"I tell you because I know they don't have you. It's easy to distinguish the free from the controlled: Those who are controlled have clouded eyes—grayer than mine."

"But how do you know I'm not a mercenary? And how do _I _know _you're _not?"

"We've known each other all our lives, so that's enough for me. But we're both taking a leap of faith if we decide to trust each other."

Miyagami stared back at Takamoto. Everything he'd said was too true to be a lie. "All right then."

"Good. Now, I want to take you to meet some friends of mine. The thing is, once you come with me, there's no turning back. You can't leave."

"Should I pack?"

"Do it carefully and quickly. And Chideta, remember I'm trusting you."

Miyagami nodded and headed home. Fortunately for him, his father was still at work and his mother was away at some business trip in London, which gave him plenty of time to pack clothes into his school briefcase and martial arts bag. Then, taking a last look behind him, he headed for Takamoto's.

The redheaded young man was wearing his uniform from the dojo and standing outside the house with a disappointed look on his face. "You haven't even changed out of your school uniform," he observed. "Sensei's not going to like this."

Miyagami understood that Imperials were about, and so continued the ruse. "Sorry I'm so late. I had detention, and I didn't have time to head home and change."

"It's a good thing you keep your bag with you at school," Takamoto commented.

"Yeah," Miyagami agreed, walking alongside his friend. "You think Sensei will mind if I bring my calculus homework with me?" Takamoto laughed, convincing the spy that their excuse was valid.

"All right, we're in the clear," Takamoto whispered. "But let's head in the direction of the dojo just in case. From there, we head for the forest."

"Which one?"

"You'll see when we get there."

* * *

On the outside, Kage Tenshi looked like an average fourteen-year-old boy. His brown hair was spiked in a medium between the styles of Dark from _DN Angel _and Yahiko from _Rurouni Kenshin_, only his was tipped with blond and reached just below his earlobes. He wore a T-shirt of some rock band over a pair of fading blue jeans. The one physical difference between him and other fourteen-year-olds were his cerulean eyes that shaded like the sky: darkest on top and lightest at the bottom.

He was with the Resistance.

He was their Chief of Technical Operations, or something of the sort, taking orders only from Commander Kae Watanabe of the Mt. Fuji Resistance fighters. His duty was hacking, hacking into anything and everything he could bypass. His position was second-in-command, so he would take over if something happened to her. But Kae was a brick wall—nothing could stop her, so he rarely worried about it. Rather, he spent his time concentrating on the files he'd hacked on his computer.

_Print it, read it, burn it,_ he ushered himself, using the mantra to keep on task as he waited for the papers to leave the small built-in printer he'd designed to go at the bottom of his laptop.

He was seated in a cavern in an underground tunnel system he'd designed, affectionately nicknamed the Underground Railroad by the Resistance fighters stationed there, or just the Railroad for short. Originally, it had been an escape for the more troubled kids Kae worked with, but now it was a haven for the Resistance fighters who needed to hide.

Someone called out a name, either Kae or Kage. More than likely, it was Kae. Nobody bothered talking to Kage, especially when he was hacking.

"Kage!" the voice called again. This time, the young hacker was certain it was his name being called. He killed the connection and walked to the mess hall. A rather annoyed Kae Watanabe stood beside a grinning Reiji Takamoto, an embarrassed Yutaka Himi, a humiliated eighteen-year-old male, and four somber children between the ages of nine and twelve. Knowing these five new faces would be important, Kage took in their physical appearances. The eighteen-year-old was tall and lean, with the build of someone who had been practicing the martial arts for several years. He had brown hair that bordered on black, and light blue eyes that bordered on white. Judging by his humiliation, he was Takamoto's friend.

There were three male children and one female. The oldest of the males was rather overweight, with reddish hair that could qualify as a shade of brown. He was warmly dressed in a dark-colored sweater and jeans, but he was obviously not dressed for the snow that had been plaguing the area. The next oldest was dressed in flaming colors—long khakis, a red T-shirt, and an orange windbreaker. Again, judging by his garb and bronze tan, Kage could tell he wasn't from the area. This boy had brown hair and goggles—what they were for, Kage had no clue, nor any desire to know. The youngest boy was nine, possibly ten. Dressed in a cream-colored turtleneck and black slacks, and sporting a saddened face, he looked like he'd come from a funeral. His origin was easy to place just by looking at his resemblance to Yutaka Himi; the two were obviously brothers, and therefore from Shinjuku.

Finally, there was the girl. If they were somber, she was sad. Her aqua green eyes glittered with the tears she wouldn't allow to fall. Because of her blonde hair and Caucasian features, he assumed she came from European descent. Her clothing consisted of a blue-and-white striped shirt that exposed her naval, a lavender vest and matching hat, and a lavender skirt of some thick material that was keeping her warm. But Kage had a feeling that it would take a lot more than that to warm a soul that cold.

"Kage, the young man in the uniform is Chideta Miyagami, a friend of Takamoto's," Kae informed. "These four are the Chosen Children—I believe you've heard of them."

He nodded. "Mysterious children mentioned in tales from the Digital World. Their identities are—were—unknown, but the Digimon Kaiser is rumored to be one of them."

"Meet Junpei Shibayama of the Spirit of Thunder," Kae introduced, "Takuya Kanbara of the Spirit of Fire, Tomoki Himi of the Spirit of Ice, and Izumi Orimoto of the Spirit of Wind. They have come here as a last resort."

"Against the Kaiser," Kage assumed. "I take it the rumors are correct in saying he is one of the Chosen?" Their silence was all the answer he needed.

"Chosen, Miyagami, this is Kage Tenshi, our technical engineer," Himi introduced. "You'll rarely see him or hear him because he's always working on his computer in the back." He then looked at his watch. "I'd better get going if I'm going to meet those refugees. Tomoki, I'll be back; I'm just going to meet a Trailmon."

_Strange, _Kage thought. _I would have expected a Chosen Child to say that to a Resistance fighter._ He looked up at the stony ceiling. Someday, Imperials and Resistance fighters would be warring above them, causing the ground to shake with the pounding of feet and their blood to leak through this ceiling. And he and these others would be there to witness it firsthand. How very sad… _Well, the entire world's changing,_ he reminded himself,_ so I suppose we must too._

* * *

Himi stood in a Trailmon station underneath the Shibuya train station, the first pinpointed barrier between the Real and Digital Worlds. All was calm, but not too calm; he'd met up with a team of Resistance fighters that were scouting everything out ahead and behind him to be sure that he would not be attacked. Perks like that came with the duty of being a Chosen Child's brother, he supposed.

_But it didn't happen that way for one,_ he remembered, thinking of the fate of the boy named Kouji Minamoto. He didn't know him very well, but he liked the kid in some way. He was a recluse, yes, but he was incredibly devoted to his friends to the point that he'd die for them time and time again. The Resistance could learn a thing or two from people like that. But now it was just too late.

A swirling ball of fire erupted from the tunnel. Himi and a crowd of fighters jumped out of the way just seconds before they could be obliterated in the blaze, covering their faces with their arms to avoid being blinded from the flash or being heated from the searing burn. Sadly, the others were not as lucky as the smell of burnt flesh wafted to their nostrils and the sounds of charred bodies hitting the tracks floated to their ears. But from the blaze, two Digimon exited: one a hideous DeathMeramon, the other a vengeful Gabumon.

"That was my class!" the Gabumon declared. "You killed them, each and every one of them. How could you?"

"The Kaiser's law is my life," DeathMeramon replied.

"Get down!" Himi ordered, shooting at DeathMeramon with a laser pistol Kage had supplied the entire Mt. Fuji team with.

"That won't hurt him!" another fighter informed, throwing him a small grenade. "Try this!"

"Get out of the way!" Himi shouted at Gabumon before tossing the grenade at DeathMeramon.

The fiery creature tried to block the weapon, but it detonated and released a chilling gas all over him, reducing the power of his flames by a very large ratio. More and more grenades were hurled until he was barely able to ignite even a spark. It was then that Sakiko Ayamisa, a sharp-shooting part-time Resistance fighter from the Yokohama forces put a bullet in his brain, ending his pathetic life.

"Good riddance," she muttered before leaving. She would have stayed longer to help, but her mother and father would have suspected her whereabouts. They were Resistance too, but far more secretive about it. She couldn't stand the cloak-and-dagger without taking up a dagger, so she assisted the fighters in recovering refugees. That was all her parents could know.

As the Gothic teenager began to leave in order to avoid her family's suspicions, Himi walked over to the devastated Gabumon, who stared at the wreckage of a Trailmon's car in horror.

"All of them…" he commented. "Togemon, Cocomon, Jellymon, Yaamon, Gigimon, Nyaromon, Yukimibotamon, and Kapurimon…all of them…gone…"

"An entire class?" Himi repeated.

Sakiko stopped from where she was walking, hearing Himi's words. This was part of the reason why she was leaving; she didn't want to acknowledge the horrors of war.

"Where humans go to school in the hopes of becoming intelligent adults, Digimon go to school to learn to be strong and intelligent Adults and Perfects and so on," she informed. "It's similar, but not entirely the same." Finally, she turned, but no one particularly saw her. "Judging by the evolution on this one and how he survived, he must have been the strongest of all of them. It's no surprise that the others died." A horrified Yutaka Himi turned with the intent of seeing the face that went with that emotionless voice and those detached words, but nobody was there, and the elevator was already soaring to the top level.

"An entire class of schoolchildren killed…" he commented, now blocking out the words of the cruel young woman. "His own brother murdered…"

_What further proof do you need that Kouichi Kimura is capable of murder?_ a part of him asked. This voice in his head was very familiar; it was the very one he reprimanded Tomoki with. Now he had to wonder what _his_ life would be like if _his_ brother died.

He didn't exactly know why he was doing it, but he placed his hand on Gabumon's shoulder, feeling the fur that covered his scaly skin.

"Nothing I can say will console you—I know that by talking with my own grieving brother," he coaxed. "But I can try and help show you that life can and will go on despite the pain. I can teach you how to fight and how to win against the person who sent that monster out with the full knowledge that he would kill and the apathy over who would be killed. I can help you, that is, if you want me to."

Gabumon looked up into the green eyes of this young human. A complete stranger was offering to help him, just as complete strangers had helped him rise in the opinions of his now dead classmates. Just as complete strangers had saved his world.

He nodded his agreement, receiving a smile of approval from his new partner, later to be called "Tamer."

"What is it that I should call you?" he questioned.

"Just call me Himi. Everybody else does."

"It seems too informal."

"We're at war; there's no time for formality."

"Will 'Himi-san' be okay?"

He was about to answer "no" when he saw the suffering brown eyes of his new teammate. Though Gabumon was a full Digimon and Tomoki was only half due to his adventures in that strange Digital World, the two matched perfectly in sorrow. Himi knew he could not reach his brother anymore—that was his friends' job now—but he could at least try with Gabumon. And like with the responsibility of being a brother, it meant making a few sacrifices along the way for the sake of small happiness.

"Himi-san it is then."

And so one of the most important alliances in the course of the war began…

* * *

Yamato Ishida sat at the kitchen table of the apartment where he and his father lived. His bass guitar rested against his char, plugged into a professional-grade amplifier. In front of him was a sheet of notebook paper, filled with lyrics.

The song he was writing was a lot darker than the songs his band usually played, but it was in reaction to Iori's condition and the need to institutionalize him in the hospital where Jyou Kido's father worked. Rather than the J-rock or J-pop sound the Teenage Wolves usually played, this one was pure blues. Yamato's old harmonica was in his hand, helping him to find the music he'd lived by as a rebellious eleven-year-old almost four years ago.

A knock at the door caught his attention. Calmly, the matured Child of Friendship got up and answered to a familiar young girl: the eleven-year-old sister of his best friend, Taichi Yagami.

"Hikari?" he recognized, surprised. She rarely, if ever, spoke to him, her best friend and confidant being his younger brother Takeru Takaishi. In fact, according to Yamato's memory, in the three or so years they'd known each other, they'd only spoken once, and he'd succeeded in making her cry.

"Hi, Yamato," she greeted. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," he answered, his shock not leaving him. "Do you want a drink or something?"  
"No thank you," she replied. "I won't stay long." Her eyes strayed to the loose leaf on the table. "'Life is a Fatal Condition'?"

"Yeah, it's a song I'm writing. I've kind of gotten back in my blues stage. Now, was there something you wanted to talk about?"

"Yes," she answered. "It's nothing big—just a song that's gotten stuck in my head. I was hoping you could write the notes down for me since you're the only person I know that's an accomplished musician."

"Does this song have a name?" Yamato questioned. "Maybe I've heard it before."

"I don't know. I heard it from someone, and I think he made it up. I could hum the tune if it helps." She hummed the melody to what was obviously the first verse. Yamato recorded it mentally and played it back on his bass. "That's it! Can you finish the rest for me?"

"All right."

The music itself was perhaps four minutes long, but replaying it and scribbling the notes down on a score sheet took an extra four or so minutes, causing Hikari's brief visit to extend. But no harm was done, and Yamato did his part without complaint. In fact, he had gotten into it so much that he was rather dejected when Hikari said the song was finished.

"You called me an accomplished musician," he commented. "Whoever wrote this could be even better than I am. He's the real musician."

"The music is beautiful, but it seems so sad," Hikari observed. "It's almost like he was crying when he wrote it."

"That, my dear Hikari Yagami, is the soul of the blues," Yamato explained, his expression brightening. Though Taichi was their leader, Jyou their doctor, Koushiro their genius, Takeru their optimist, Hikari their empath, Sora their cook, and Mimi their ever-faithful eye; no one could outdo Yamato when it came to music. That was his job—musician. "I detected a bit of the blues or jazz in the music as I played it. Though it doesn't follow the rules to traditional blues and jazz, it does sound like some of the earlier songs I wrote, before Takashi, Akira, Yutaka, and I formed the band." He tore off the sheet and handed it to Hikari. "Tell your friend that if he ever needs a back-up band, the Teenage Wolves are at his disposal."

"I will," she promised.

As she walked across the street to her own apartment building, she thought of Yamato's words.

_An accomplished musician,_ she silently repeated, looking at the notes. _Who are you? And why do you sing the blues?_

When she reached her family's apartment, she entered her room and closed her eyes. Someone had been unconsciously reaching for her, calling out for help. She concentrated on the music and tried to form an image of the person reaching out to her, but no one appeared. Exasperated, she sighed and stared at the notes.

_Musician, keep singing the blues, _she thought. _The music will guide me to you._

* * *

Kouichi Kimura looked out over the legions of followers he'd gained. Of the many, he'd chosen a select few to be his army, his mighty Imperial Guard. But more would come soon. That he could promise.

The Digimon looked completely normal, as they should so that they could avoid detection. The human troops were dressed all in black with silver bulletproof vests over their uniforms. Their padded black nylon pants tucked into shiny black boots that reflected a dark sunset. An assault rifle was slung over each Imperial's right shoulder, and each had a belt with holster shielding a 9mm Smith and Wesson. Black helmets with darkened visors hid the dull gray eyes of the soldiers and the sparkling eyes of the mercenaries. Only one of these elite fighters had his helmet off of his messed blond hair and away from his green eyes, and he stood at the Kaiser's left side while a determined soldier, Renamon, stood at the monarch's right. Whereas she had been chosen as the best of the best for her exemplary fighting skills, he had been selected for his outstanding cruelty. That had earned Reiyama the title of colonel in just a few days. Along with being the Kaiser's personal bodyguards, they were permitted to inflict torture on the slaves…

Most importantly, on a nameless one in the bowels of Cell 24.

**The Teenage Wolves really are named Yutaka, Takashi, and Akira, but I had to match them up to the instruments because it was never specified who played what. Also, I made up the last names. "Life is a Fatal Condition" was created from a quote said by Zoë in _The Pretender_. You can find the song under my account at Fiction Press. Kae Araki plays Hikari in the Japanese version of _Digimon,_ and "Yasashii Ame" is Hikari's _02 _image song that drives my sister nuts. ****The writing style used for the scene with "The World" was sort of based off of The Sh33p's introspective fic "Mirror Image" in the _Zoids _section. But I think I'm the only one to have a three-way scene done with the different alignments (at least until the formatting changed).**


	4. Only the Beginning

_"I don't want to let you go_  
_But in my heart, now I know  
__That's it's only the beginning of the end."  
__BBMak—"The Beginning"_

Echoes of Angels Who Won't Return  
Chapter Two, February: "Only the Beginning"

It was nearly dawn in the Digital World when the three sat in conference: two humans and one Digimon. Never before had all three been in the same area at once, and never before had this question been posed.

"I know this is hard for you to accept, but there are things that just can't be done," commented the older human, a man appearing to be in his late twenties or early thirties.

"Hard to accept?" the second human, a boy of about eleven, repeated. Though he only looked like a child, he was in actuality much older. His true age was fourteen--nearly fifteen--if not for an unforeseen accident. "A child's life is at stake! He's the same age I was when I made my sacrifice, and the same age the Chosen Children are now. If it was Ken or any of the others, you wouldn't hesitate for a minute¡ªadmit it."

"You have to understand Gennai's reasoning," the Digimon explained. "You have done all you can to help this boy, but there is no way for you to keep him out of danger altogether. He must do this for himself."

"But he can't¡­" the boy began, but Gennai cut him off.

"You must listen to Qinglongmon. You believe in this boy's capabilities, don't you?"

"I do, but¡­"

"So if you do, you must believe in him to be able to win this on his own."

The boy looked down as the sunlight reflected off his glasses. He knew that this sun wasn't entirely real, but was data taken shape. Everything around him was not real¡ªeven he himself was. He no longer existed in this realm of existence, but he took it as his personal duty to protect the ones he most cared about. Right now, they were in good condition, but someone else--a complete stranger--was not.

"All I'm asking for is a little help," he continued, taking a sigh. "I know that I've broken all sorts of dimensional laws by crossing over into that world to help defend him, but he needs it. Every single one of his injuries is fatal! Just yesterday, his brother slit open his wrists! He could have bled to death, and I couldn't do anything. The most I could do was wake him up early enough so he could keep from dying, but even that wasn't enough. He nearly passed out on the night shift." He knew he was getting too emotional. Qinglongmon and Gennai would use it against him. Calmly, he recollected himself and went on. "All I want is the ability to take a solid form. That's all I'm asking. I just want to be able to help him."

"You're doing a lot of that already," Gennai reasoned.

"But it's not enough."

"Osamu, listen to reason," Qinglongmon urged. "What would happen if the new Kaiser caught you? Because you are dead, you are in no danger, but the boy you are protecting will be. How will you compensate for that?" The boy was silent. "Are your actions to make up for your brother's mistakes, or are they for your own sake?"

_Got me that time, _he thought. "It's mostly for me. I'll never forget what I saw when I tried to wake Ken from that Mind Illusion. Six other kids and I were forced to kill the Kaiser. Two of us shared him as a brother! And each of the others fell. I couldn't do anything. I would gladly have taken their sacrifices, but I couldn't."

"You do realize that it was a reality that didn't exist?" Gennai questioned.

"I know," he replied, "but that boy is now bleeding from his wrists¡ªthe first injury he sustained in there. Those sacrifices were real, and I don't want to stand around and be as helpless as before."

Gennai and Qinglongmon exchanged a long glance. Osamu Ichijouji was more than mature enough to be trusted with this, they knew, but was it right to do this? After his brother had taken the Dark Seed? Would history repeat itself indefinitely?

"Osamu, you do agree that the gift we will give you must be used with extreme caution," Gennai stated. He nodded in reply. "Do not, under any circumstances, use it to stop their sacrifices. Ease their pain, but do not stop it."

"If necessary, may I use it to help them?" he asked. "For example, if he's close to death again, can I keep him alive with it?"

"Yes," Qinglongmon answered, "as long as you do not attack the Kaiser with it." A tiny shimmering object sprung from the great dragon's body and implanted itself into Osamu's left wrist. "The Light Seed offers many powers, as does its brother, the Dark; but this embodies life rather than death." Osamu's transparent form suddenly became solid. He flexed his fingers and placed his hand in the grass he knelt in. He could feel it. "Along with it, you have the ability to conceal objects or persons, just as the Kaiser does. But your powers obstruct others' vision with the light, rather than eclipsing it in the dark."

"All smoke and mirrors," Osamu commented.

"With that, you can also take on that boy's appearance if need be," Qinglongmon continued. "A single drop of his blood would initiate it, as the power of Light is drawn to its source."

"I understand, Qinglongmon," Osamu replied. "And thank you." In the blink of an eye, he was gone from that world and back into the other. He smiled. His job would now be a little easier.

* * *

Hikari woke up suddenly, dripping with a cold sweat. Quickly, she turned on a light, being sure not to disturb her partner, Tailmon, who was sleeping peacefully nearby. Hikari envied how soundly the Digimon could sleep. How was it that the nearly twelve-year-old was the only one ever disturbed by visions?

_That dream,_ she thought, cursing her gift. It had been the fourth time that week the dream had plagued her, only it now seemed even closer to reality. A boy her age was drowning in a sea of blood while a nearly identical boy laughed in the distance. Worse, the boy appeared to be the Digimon Kaiser. And the music always echoed in her mind afterward.

Carefully, she climbed out of bed and went to her desk. Though her passion was photography, she was also skilled at drawing, so she grabbed some colored pencils and got to work at bringing this mysterious character to life. While she was at it, she wrote down the lyrics to the song on the back of the score sheet Yamato gave her. She knew this could help her somehow.

Finally, the drawing was completed, as was the song. The boy had blue eyes and formerly long dark hair that had been recently cut with a knife or some kind of blade. He was a prisoner in the darkness, with only his song to comfort his pain. The song itself seemed sad and mournful¡ªin fact, he even mentioned that he was mourning some words. But with the way he sang, it was as though he was forcing himself to look to those stars, and to the blue moon that seemed to inspire him. They were the only consolation to his sorrow. Because of that, she knew he was truly a child of the Light.

_Who are you, brother in the Light?_ she wondered. A strange type of pain overtook her mind, mirroring his. _Brother. _That's_ the word you mourn. What happened that was so terrible that you mourn this word?_ She could not feel an answer. He didn't seem to be able to feel her prying. She sighed. _Keep looking to that blue moon, and to those stars. I'll be the one that's guided to find you._

_-------  
_Not one of the Teenage Wolves could miss the sadness in Yamato's voice as he sang. But the audience had; they were mindlessly applauding the band and the last song of the night, "Hitoribotchi no Shiso­." The four young men took a bow and headed off-stage.

"So what was that all about?" Takashi Aoyama asked.

"What do you mean?" Yamato questioned.

"Teary eyes, cracking voice," Akira Kawagami listed. "It was Sora again, wasn't it?"

"I told you; I'm over her."

"Don't like to us," Akira instructed.

"Yeah, tell the love god over there all your troubles," Yutaka Kiyosaki joked.

"Shut up," Yamato replied. "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not grieving over Sora anymore? Sure, when we broke up, I was upset, but it was the best decision. Right now, we're in the middle of something big, something you wouldn't understand."

"How wouldn't we?" Takashi asked.

"You weren't there, so you wouldn't know."

Saying no more, Yamato walked off toward his apartment building, only to see Taichi trying to break up a fight¡ªbetween little sister Hikari and boy genius Ken Ichijouji.

"Taichi, what happened?" Yamato questioned.

"Ken was just walking down the street and Hikari jumped him," he answered.

"What? That's not like her."

"I know. Now help me!"

Frantically, they pulled the two children away from each other, but Hikari threatened to burst out of her brother's grip to give Ken another good punch.

"Hikari, stop it!" Taichi ordered.

"You may have forgotten about the Darkness, but I haven't!" she cried, trying to tear herself free.

"But what does this have to do with me?" Ken demanded.

"You tried to kill that boy," she spat, her words like acidy venom. "I saw you!"

"What do you mean?" Ken shouted.

"You know! He was drowning in a sea of blood while you laughed. You let him die!"

"Does this have to do with that blues singer?" Yamato interrupted. Taichi stared at him. "When I wrote those notes down, I didn't mean for you to attack your friends!"

"What are you talking about?" Taichi asked.

"Hikari asked me to write down the notes to a blues song a friend of hers had come up with. I didn't think much of it until now."

"Hikari, you'd better explain!" Taichi ordered in a voice he'd never used with her.

"The blues singer is a boy who's a prisoner," she replied. "Ken, dressed as the Kaiser, laughed as he drowned in a sea of his own blood."

"Did you ever stop and consider the fact that the Kaiser could have been that other boy?" Ken responded. "The one that looked like me? The one on the other side? Have you forgotten what we saw that day, Hikari?"

"Ken, not now," Yamato reasoned. "Look, come with me, and I'll get you some ice for your jaw. Taichi, deal with Hikari in any way you want."

"Got it."

While Tai gruffly dragged Hikari back home, Yamato led Ken to his apartment. The sun was setting on the first day of vacation for Mr. Ishida, and he was spending it resting on the couch. He sat up immediately once his son and the Ichijouji boy entered.

"Hello, Yamato. Hello, Ken¡ªisn't it?"

"Yes," the prodigy answered. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Ishida."

"Ken got into a fight outside," Yamato explained. "Is it okay if I get him some ice?"

"Who did he get in a fight with?"

"Hikari Yagami," Ken muttered.

"Hikari? That sweet girl?" Mr. Ishida checked. "Why would she fight you?"

"I honestly have no clue," Ken admitted.

"Dad, the ice?" Yamato reminded.

"Sure. Go right ahead."

Yamato went to the freezer and filled a small bag with ice. He placed a paper towel around it and handed it to Ken.

"Thanks," the younger boy answered, placing it on his jaw. "Ouch! Hikari's got a stronger right hook than I thought."

"You may need to get it checked out¡­"

"No, Yamato, I'm okay. I'll be heading home now. Thanks again."

"Welcome."

At the sound of the door's closing, Yamato sighed and pressed his head against the fridge. He needed a drink. He didn't care that he was five or six years underage; he needed a drink. But just as he pulled a beer out of the fridge, his father replaced it with a soda.

"You're not even fifteen, Yamato. I won't have you starting a drinking problem. That's how your mother and I got divorced, remember?"

Yamato twisted off the cap from the bottle and sat down. "It seems like I've got an everything problem, Dad. Things have just been too hectic lately."

"Your break-up with Sora?"

"Not just that, but Ken and Hikari's fight, Iori's admittance to the hospital¡­ Wallace recently broke up with Miyako, so she's refusing to even hear his name. Jyou's buried himself in his studies while Koushiro has legally married his computer¡ªI'm debating whether to buy them a toaster or a blender. Daisuke's trying his hardest to keep everyone together, but even now he's taking an escape in the form of Yutaka's sister. Taichi, Takeru, and Mimi are the only ones without a problem¡ªscratch that. Taichi now has to deal with Hikari, so it's only Takeru and Mimi."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. Koushiro and Wallace have been working with Gennai to reach the other world, the one where the Darkness went. If that works, maybe some of these pressures can be relieved." Yamato sighed and took a long swig of his soda. Never before had the responsibilities of being a Chosen Child been _this _taxing.

* * *

Koushiro Izumi and Wallace Ford sat in Gennai's study in the Digital World, trying to finish the algorithms to the other world. Tentomon, Koushiro's partner Digimon, was outside playing tag with Wallace's partners Gumimon and Chocomon (actually, a Terriermon and Lopmon respectively, but the concept of evolution had never completely sunk in for Wallace). Gennai watched the two humans attentively, occasionally altering Wallace's mathematical equations to match them to Koushiro's. The younger boy of eleven was no genius like the older boy of fourteen, but after his mother's death and his break-up of the long-distance relationship with Miyako, he needed some kind of diversion to keep him from losing his mind the way Iori had.

"How's this, Gennai?" Wallace questioned. The digital man came over to check.

"Well, your pre-algebra is still shaky, but you do have the correct settings for the key," he determined. "Koushiro, how's your part coming along?"

"I just need to add in Wallace's settings, if they're right, and it'll be done," the redhead declared confidently, never once looking up from his yellow laptop. "And have you managed to establish contact with Ryo's world yet?"

"Not yet," Gennai admitted. "There are too many inconsistencies and too many interferences with the signal. But I am getting there. If I can figure out some way to surpass this tracking program in that world, I'll be able to contact him."

"What's this tracking system doing?" Koushiro asked.

"It's almost as if it's deleting my signal. Someone in that world is trying to block out any digital discrepancies that come from the outside. With Ryo being part-data, it surprises me that he would be able to survive there at all."

Koushiro nodded in understanding. "I have to admit, it would be easier if Michael, Catherine, and all those others had any way of helping more. Sure, Chichos is too young, but even she might know a way to work out the settings for the key."

"Wallace!" Chocomon called. "We have to go home now!"

"Don't make Aunt Rebecca mad again," Gumimon pleaded. "She's worse than Mama."

"Hold on, Gumimon, Chocomon," he replied, hitting save. "Sorry, Koushiro, Gennai. I have to go."

"Don't worry," Gennai assured. "You've done a lot already."

"Sorry I have to go so soon," the boy answered, exiting through a television portal. "Goodbye!"

_Summer Memory_, Colorado was exactly as it had always been: a lazy farm known to locals for it hospitality to travelers and passers-by. Following his mother's passing, Wallace had moved into the home he now inherited, taking with him the distant relatives that had taken him in: Aunt Rebecca¡ªa kind-hearted but tough woman who had been Mrs. Ford's only cousin, Uncle Greg¡ªa reserve soldier from the Fort Carson military base near Colorado Springs, who was often absent from the family due to duties at base, and Jaimie¡ªtheir two-year-old daughter who had an insatiable sweet tooth. Though his new family was kind to him, he could not deny that there were problems. First, Uncle Greg had not taken kindly to Gumimon and Chocomon, and was even more distressed by them when he learned that Mrs. Ford had given her young son their egg when before he even was old enough to go to school. And that only led to number two: when Uncle Greg and Aunt Rebecca determined that, judging by the evidence of the said egg and the phone bills they'd discovered from the many times Wallace had called his mother collect while he trekked from New York to Colorado as well as said adventure across the country, that the boy was incredibly spoiled and harbored a habit that he needed to break. Once his altruism had finally been revealed, they'd caused problem _numero tres_: a suffocating sense of closeness as they tried to relieve the pain of his tragedies. It was enough to make him sick.

Jaimie was playing in the freshly fallen snow with Aunt Rebecca. Seeing an opportunity for fun, Gumimon and Chocomon used their long, floppy ears to catch the breeze and glide over to them.

"Aunt Rebecca, I'm going to be on the Internet for a bit," Wallace informed. "I want to e-mail Mimi."

"All right," she answered.

Once upon a time in New York, Wallace and Mimi had dated. This was prior to her affection to the Chosen Child Michael and after the apparent crush Jyou Kido had on her and long before Wallace's brief romance with Miyako Inoue. The two had joined forces with each other and many other Chosen Children to clear out Ground Zero nearly two years earlier. From then on, the two had become close friends, eventually dating and schooling each other in the ways of the other's world. In fact, Mimi had been the one to teach Wallace the Japanese that aided him on his cross-country adventure with Daisuke and the others, and Wallace had taught her English. When he'd learned that she was one of the children Chocomon had abducted, he'd only apologized about a hundred times before she'd told him to stop. Wallace's family never worried about his relationship with her; their age difference was only two years. And though they had grown apart, Mimi had never harbored any resentment toward him when he sought a relationship with Miyako, and he never held any when she grew closer to Michael. But a single event that no one had foreseen was known only to the Ford boy: Mimi and Michael's seemingly perfect relationship had gone up in smoke. After their dating disasters, the two former lovers had been relying on each other more and more.

There was one bad effect Mimi had on him, Wallace realized as he sat before the computer, drawing a blank in front of the screen. She always managed to leave him speechless. Groaning, he checked his instant messenger before attempting to type a letter to her. Was it possible he was falling back in love with her?

* * *

Daisuke Motomiya and Natsu Kiyosaki sat under a tree at Odaiba Elementary during their lunch period. Daisuke's Baby II partner Chibimon sat on Natsu's lap, happily nibbling at a rice ball.

Natsu was the younger sister of one of Yamato's band members, Yutaka. She and Daisuke met on rather unusual circumstances during the battles against Oikawa. She had been in one of the cars that XV-mon and Stingmon had been forced to pull over to the side of the road, and had recognized Daisuke as a friend of Yamato and Takeru's. Had it not been for her testimony, the entire Kiyosaki family could have been injured in the car chase.

The tree was a shady evergreen, and sheltered the ground from the snow that would otherwise have ruined their clothes. And Daisuke did not want to spoil Natsu's pale golden dress and sky blue jacket any more than he wanted to destroy his red-and-black jacket, blue T-shirt, and jeans.

"So you're still avoiding them?" Natsu observed, seeing the other Chosen (sans Ken and Iori) scattered across the playground.

"Can you blame me?" Daisuke questioned. "After Hikari's fight with Ken, I can't take it. It was bad enough with Iori and Miyako and Wallace, but this is pathetic! What happened to the team?"

"Daisuke, are you still mad?" Chibimon asked, his infectious happiness suddenly gone.

"Not anymore, Chibimon. But¡­ I just want to know how our friendship ended!"

"Just because you're going through some bad times, it doesn't mean your friendship is over," Natsu reasoned. "Watch. This whole thing will blow over in a week."

Daisuke was silent for a while, contemplating this. Was everything really that simple? And if it was, how was it that something so simple could happen now of all times?

Out of the corner of his eye, he observed a blonde boy in a green turtleneck, a white vest, and khakis walking toward a girl in a pink dress, red scarf, and white beret. "Somehow, I don't think so," Daisuke commented.

The former bearer of the Crest of Light picked at her food while looking at her drawing of the mysterious singer. Beside her were the notes and lyrics to the song.

_Did your brother do something terrible? _she silently questioned. _What could he do that was so wrong?_

"Hikari?" Takeru addressed, his voice cold. "We need to talk."

"What?" she asked, roughly, uninterestedly. He snatched the drawing from her. "Hey!"

"This is your singer?" he demanded. "This is the person you wasted a hard-fought friendship with Ken for? He's not even real!"

"Takeru, you've known me for almost four years now. You know about my gift."

"I don't care about your stupid gift!" he declared, throwing the paper to the ground. "You're chasing a dream; for all you know, this singer could have died years ago. You're throwing too much away on a chance!"

"And what exactly am I throwing away?"

Takeru stared at her coldly, his blue eyes connecting to her scarlet-brown. Where there once would have been friendship, there was now malice. From the sidelines, anyone could see that whatever had kept them friends for so long was forever gone and would never return. "Until you can answer that yourself, consider our friendship over." He stormed past Daisuke, Natsu, and Chibimon. "Tell Ken that he finally succeeded, without being the Kaiser: The Chosen are no more!"

Daisuke sighed and shook his head while Natsu and Chibimon tried to comfort him. All good things were said to come to an end. Perhaps their friendship was too good.

* * *

Iori sat in a playroom of sorts in the hospital's psychiatric ward. The doctors had approved of his friendship with Akemi, deciding it would do both boys some good and hopefully alleviate the symptoms of their conditions. While Upamon played around with several toys on the ground, his human partner sat in patient waiting.

_I hope nothing's wrong, _he thought, glancing at the clock for the fifth time. Though he was doing a lot better than before, he was now slipping into a slight depression out of concern. _Akemi should have been here by now._

"No! No!" the young boy protested outside, fighting out of his doctor's grip before running into the room. He ducked away from the window on the door and ran toward Iori. "Iori, you have to run! Someone's out to kill you!"

"Who is?" Upamon demanded, more than ready to evolve.

"I don't know, but I think it's a Digimon," he replied. "It was covered by a hood, and had black wings. I've seen it near the hospital before."

Iori turned deathly pale. "Demon."

"Iori, what are we going to do?" Upamon asked.

"We can't risk a fight here," he realized, "so we'll have to confront him ourselves. Akemi, you hide before he can find you."

"All right," the other boy agreed.

Iori held out his D-3, allowing it to flare to life. A bright light surrounded Upamon, spurring forth changes in his height and physical build.

"Upamon evolve! Armadimon!"

Both Armadimon and Iori ran out of the room, desperately searching for the villain that sought them. Patients, doctors, and nurses alike ducked out of the way as they saw the Chosen Child and Digimon dashing about the hospital, racing against time to find Demon before he could locate them. Finally, after disrupting the entire psychiatric ward, they returned to the playroom to inform Akemi.

"I couldn't find him," Iori explained. "I don't know where he could be."

"He's out there," Akemi informed, looking directly out the window. Iori came up to him.

"No, he's not. I don't see anyone."

"He's there! I'm telling you! He's there!"

A memory of their first encounter returned to Iori. Akemi had first mentioned his diagnoses and the significance of them. "Akemi, did you take the medicine for your schizophrenia?" he questioned.

"Of course I did."

There had been more to their conversation on that first day. This talk had been about complications that arose from the medication. "Did you take anything for your bipolar condition?"

"Yes. I was given an antidepressant this morning."

"Akemi, you're manic now," Iori reasoned. "It's interfering with your schizophrenia. What you're seeing isn't real."

"Trust me, it is!" He turned to his friend, his blue eyes sparkling with fearful tears. "Iori, Upamon, you're the only friends I've got, and I have to protect you. I'm sorry."

"What do you mean?"

Before Iori finished his question, Akemi leapt out of the window, breaking the glass and metal screening. Iori watched helplessly as his friend hit the cement below in a bloody heap. His mangled, broken body was sprawled out, dead, but his eyes stared out with the same life they'd always held.

The doctors that had abandoned Akemi, as well as those that wished to rebuke Iori, ran in, only to see one brown-haired boy with terrified emerald eyes staring out of the window to his dead friend. Everything that had occurred finally fell into place, and they tried to pull the traumatized boy away from the room as they called for someone to clean up the body on the sidewalk. But Iori wouldn't leave. Instead, the former bearer of the Digimentals of Knowledge and Sincerity broke down on the floor.

* * *

Daisuke, Natsu, and Chibimon stared directly at the other five older Chosen that remained in Japan. They were gathered in the park, exactly where Takeru and Hikari had decided to meet to discuss the beginning of the new Chosen Children. It was ironic now that they were here to discuss the end of the same group. Though Natsu was far from being a Chosen Child, she attended because she didn't want Daisuke to go through this alone.

Taichi sat in the center, with Agumon right next to him. On his right side were Yamato and Gabumon, and on his left were Jyou and Gomamon. Beside Yamato and Gabumon were Sora and Piyomon, and beside Jyou and Gomamon were Koushiro and Tentomon. They were a ruling group of five, and Daisuke felt nervous under their gaze. Never before had he dreaded anything like he did now.

"So, Daisuke, what was it you wanted to tell us?" Taichi questioned benevolently.

"Well..­." He stumbled, and Natsu comfortingly placed her hand on his shoulder. "These are words I never imagined I'd have to say."

"Whatever it is, it can't be worse than what we've already experienced," Yamato commented. Daisuke looked down.

"What exactly is it that you're so upset about?" Jyou asked.

"It all started this afternoon in school¡­" Daisuke began, but he never got much further than that. A low rumble of laughter sounded from outside, piercing the sky like thunder. The digivices beeped wildly in reaction to the coming threat while Daisuke muttered, "This is a really bad time."

A dark figure in a reddish burnoose crept up from a pool of darkness in the floor. The Digimon automatically jumped in front of their respective partners, and Daisuke stood defensively in front of Natsu.

"Koushiro Izumi," Demon addressed, "you have the program for the key to the other world. Give it to me."

"If you want Koushiro so badly, you'll have to go through me to get him," Tentomon informed. "Petit Thunder!"

Demon tossed it aside easily. "Now, Chosen of Knowledge, I trust that you'll do the smart thing and hand the key over." He placed out his hand, preparing a fireball of his Flame Inferno.

"What is this key anyway?" Natsu demanded.

"Ah, a new face in the crowd," Demon observed. "Well, young one, do you know of the worldwide darkness on the fourth of January?"

"Yes. It was caused by one of you Digimon, wasn't it?"

"Yes, but you don't know the rest of the story. After the battle between these children and BelialVamdemon was over, a being called the Digimon Kaiser broke free from this world and infected someone in another. As he tore through the vortex, he opened a rift in the Dark World."

"And that's how you escaped!" Taichi realized.

"Taichi," Agumon called, "if Demon goes to that world, he'll be able to conquer it easily. Its defenses will be weakened because of the Kaiser."

"We can't let that happen!" Chibimon declared.

"Exactly, Chibimon," Daisuke agreed. "Get ready to evolve!"

With a bright flash of light from Daisuke's D-3, Chibimon's form changed and grew. Though his body itself was glowing too brightly to see more than his outline, his partner knew what was about to come.

"Chibimon evolve! V-mon!"

"Everybody, get ready!" Taichi ordered.

Agumon released a small fireball from his mouth. "Baby Flame!"

Gabumon sent out a spew of blue flames to assist. "Petit Fire!"

Along with this, Piyomon unleashed a spiral of green flames. "Magical Fire!"

"Daisuke, call the others," Jyou instructed. "We'll need their help."

"I don't think they'll answer my message," he protested.

"V-mon Head!" V-mon rammed his head into Demon's abdomen, causing him to stagger.

"Petit Thunder!" Tentomon once again released electricity from his wings, assisting V-mon.

"Sharp Claws!" Just as his attack stated, Gomamon slashed at the Ultimate, desperately trying to gain an edge.

"You have to try!" Sora insisted. "If you don't, we don't have a chance!"

"Daisuke...­" V-mon stared at him with large, sad brown eyes. Daisuke let out a pained breath and grabbed his D-terminal. What did he have to lose that he hadn't lost already?

* * *

Izumi looked up at her first aid instructors, banishing the tears from her eyes. Her test was finally over, but it seemed too little too late. Though she had successfully performed rescue breathing on a dummy, she couldn't help but wish she'd had this training before the fateful day of January 4, 2003.

"Congratulations," Kae commented. "You passed." The girl let out a sigh of relief and accepted a black bag from the International Red Cross and Red Crescent, filled with the equipment and license that signified that she was first aid certified. The hours of schooling had paid off, even if it had been too late to change the past.

She cautiously made her way down Mt. Fuji, noting a path where the last rays of the setting sun were visible. The view was breathtaking, with an appropriate silence that accented the beauty.

_Kouji would have loved this place, _she realized. But there was no point in thinking of that now.

Somberly, she made her way down the mountain, eventually reaching the forest that hid their home. Rather than enter the tunnels, she walked about a quarter kilometer west to a small camouflaged tent where three boys and a dog waited. The dog came up and rubbed against her, offering support. She gently petted him and walked over to the others.

"I passed," she informed.

"That's great," Takuya replied, forcing a lighter tone.

"Yeah," she answered, sitting down. Success was meaningless when one was too upset to celebrate.

They ate dinner and grabbed blankets to sleep around the fire. Himi and Kae would soon come by to act as guards to see to it that all was well.

As the fire crackled behind her and Himi and Kae arrived, Izumi let her mind drift back to the days when all _was_ well. Things may not have been_ good _necessarily, but they were well--and people could be trusted. The last thought on her mind was seeing Kouji on his bed, playing his guitar the previous May.

_Kouji, I'm so sorry I couldn't save you, _she apologized. _But now I can make up for it by helping others._

* * *

"Flame Inferno!" Demon attacked, sending forth flames toward the Chosen Children. WarGreymon placed his shield in front of them to break it as best he could, but it was evident that he was beginning to weaken.

"WarGreymon, let's attack together," WereGarurumon suggested, preparing to slash with his sharp red claws. "Kaiser Nail!"

"Gaia Force!"

The sinister creature ignored their attacks as if they weren't even there. Taichi and Yamato gritted their teeth at this sight, knowing that they would need more assistance.

"Hammer Spark!" Zudomon attacked, trying to slam his weapon down on Demon, or at least shock him with the lightning emitted.

"Horn Buster!" assisted AtlurKabuterimon, releasing a shockwave of electricity from his horn.

"Shadow Wing!" Garudamon added, sending in a firebird to attack.

By this time, the entire park was ablaze, and the Chosen were in deep trouble. No help had come, and none appeared to be arriving.

"Why won't Hikari answer?" Taichi demanded. "Or Takeru, or anyone?"

"It seems you children aren't as close as you'd like to believe," Demon mocked. "Chaos Flare!"

The dangerous flames rushed toward the Chosen, freezing them in their tracks. Suddenly, out of nowhere, XV-mon flew into the brunt of the attack.

"No, XV-mon!" Daisuke shouted.

"Daisuke, this is a sacrifice I must make," he informed, somehow managing to retain his strength from the force of the fire. "Are you with me or not?"

Defiance blazed in Daisuke's brown eyes as he gripped his digivice even more tightly. "I'm with you!"

Natsu placed her hand on his. "And so am I."

"No, Natsu, help get the others to safety," he warned. "And don't look back."

"But, Daisuke...­"

He turned and placed his hands on her shoulders, shaking his head. "It's not your sacrifice to make. This is something only XV-mon and I can do, understand?" She nodded, her orange-gold hair bouncing as she did. "Good. Now go."

"What a noble thing to do," Demon observed. "Your sacrifice is brave, just as that one boy's was for your other friend--I believe their names were Akemi and Iori." Immediately, a terrified silence overtook the children. Could their friend have died?

"What do you know about Iori?" Taichi demanded.

"I know that he should have listened to his companion when he said that I was at the hospital, looking for him." Daisuke gritted his teeth angrily.

"Run!" he ordered.

"Flame Inferno!"

"Now, XV-mon!" Daisuke shouted.

"X Laser!"

The blazing fire collided with the laser, creating a titanic explosion. Not heeding Daisuke's words, Natsu turned to see what had happened, burning her lavender eyes with the brightness. The Chosen and their Digimon all felt the effects of the blast as they were thrown several meters, sustaining various injuries. All around them were the Baby II levels of the Digimon, except for the one of XV-mon, who lay as a still and dying Chicomon. Near him was Daisuke, whose knee appeared to be completely shattered.

"Daisuke," Taichi addressed, pulling himself over to his protege. "Why didn't they come?"

Daisuke cracked open his eyes and whispered, "I'm sorry, Taichi, but the Chosen are over."

* * *

Mrs. Yagami impatiently glared at the clock as she tapped her foot. Her husband and daughter sat at the table in front of twice-microwaved dinner while they were all in waiting for the fourth family member. Tailmon was at a small table beside theirs, waiting for Agumon to arrive to dine with her.

"That's it," Mrs. Yagami decided. "We're not waiting anymore. Taichi and Agumon will just have to starve."

As if on cue, the door opened, and a fourteen-year-old boy practically fell in, clutching an unconscious pink Digimon against his body.

"Taichi!" His entire family got up and carefully helped him to the couch.

"Be careful," he warned. "Koromon was hurt too."

Taichi suffered a split upper lip, a cut in his ear, and several cracked ribs. It was obvious he would need to be sent to the hospital sooner or later to determine if he had any worse injuries, but he was just too tired to make the trip at the moment. Koromon was badly injured as well, just minutes away from deletion.

"Onii-chan, what happened?" Hikari asked.

"We got off easy," he explained. "Yamato may need stitches on his forehead, and Tsunomon isn't better off. Sora has a twisted or sprained ankle while Pyocomon has several bad burns. Jyou is pretty badly bruised, as is Pukamon. Koushiro hit his elbow pretty hard in the explosion, so he needs to have it checked out; and the last I heard, Motimon was still unconscious. But Daisuke, Natsu, and Chicomon are even worse." Tailmon looked up at Hikari, both having noted the use of the name of Chibimon's Baby I stage. "Natsu broke her wrist and is blind from flash burn. No one's sure if the blindness is permanent or not. Daisuke completely destroyed his knee, so it'll be a miracle if he can ever play soccer, let alone walk again. Chicomon has a slim chance of surviving till tomorrow so long as he remains in that form. He saved our lives; if not for his X Laser as XV-mon, we wouldn't have survived Demon's flames." Hikari stared at him in shock while Tailmon narrowed her eyes in response to the name. Painfully, Taichi turned his head to look at his sister with hurt brown eyes. "Hikari, why didn't you answer your D-terminal? Why would you let us die?"

* * *

Ken lay awake in bed, deeply thinking about the phone call he'd just gotten from Koushiro. Apparently, half of the Chosen Children had ended up in the emergency room because no one answered their distress calls. Guilt flooded his brain, poisoning him with insomnia--and not for the first time in his life. He knew this feeling all too well from his days after being the Digimon Kaiser.

"Ken?" questioned the small larva-like Digimon lying next to him.

"Yes, Minomon?"

"Are you worried about Daisuke and the others?"

"Yes." There was no point in lying to him.

"Then why don't you talk to them?"

Ken rolled to his side. "And say what? 'Sorry for nearly killing Chibimon'? 'Sorry you almost died'? Minomon, this is something that I just can't do."

_"If you keep saying you can't, then you will only keep yourself form succeeding." _Why was it that Osamu _niisan_'s voice always entered his mind at times like this? In an instant, Ken's concentration was hurled into the desert of the Mind Illusion, shimmering bubbles floating around him. In front of him was Osamu, who looked exactly as he had the day he'd died.

"Osamu, I can't." He refrained from calling him "_niisan_" as he usually did, clearly trying to state that their relationship as brothers could not and would not sway him.

The deceased boy sighed. "Do you remember what I always said about destiny?"

"It's only an excuse for those who don't try," Ken quoted.

"Yes, _ototo-chan_. It's merely an excuse. If you don't do something now, you're giving in to destiny."

"But, Osamu, wait!" Ken's call was unheard. His mind drifted back to the present, and the effects of the Mind Illusion were nonexistent. He growled angrily.

"Ken?"

"Nothing, Minomon. Osamu _niisan_'s memory was masturbating my psyche again." He sighed and slammed his head against the pillow. "I just can't win. Minomon, if you want to help, evolve now."

The Baby II began jumping up and down with excitement. Ken held out his black-and-gray D-3, hoping his parents wouldn't see the flash given off.

"Minomon evolve! Wormmon!"

They waited several minutes before opening the balcony window, just in case his parents _did_ decide to check on him. When no one came, Ken opened the window and Wormmon sat on the terrace wall.

"How could are you at climbing, Ken?"

The young man leaned over the side to see the dizzying altitude. For a moment, he felt nauseous, but he forced the feeling to subside.

"Good enough, Wormmon, but aim a Sticky Net just in case."

Wormmon made a careful estimate of where a net would be of the most use. "Sticky Net!" Between the second floor of their building and the top of a tree, a white hammock spread out. Next, he got to work on a rope. "Silk Thread!"

Ken tugged on it a few times to ensure it was stable before he quickly climbed down and got to the street. Once he and Wormmon were on solid ground, they made their way to Odaiba.

Daisuke lay half-asleep in bed, a mortally injured Chicomon beside him. Part of his mind was exhausted and needed rest, but the other was angry and felt betrayed. How could the others abandon them like this? But after an hour of deliberation, the exhausted side won out, and he closed his eyes.

It felt like only a few minutes later when a knock at the window woke him up. At first, he told himself it was just some bird, but common sense kicked in when he realized no birds would be flying at this hour. Annoyed, he grabbed his crutches and hobbled to the window.

"Ken?" he recognized, rapidly opening it. "How did you get here?"

"Silk Thread, Sticky Net, bus," he answered. "How's Chicomon?"

Daisuke's now somber eyes strayed to his partner. "Still pretty much the same. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to handle death with humans, much less Digimon."

The comment hit home for Ken, who had dealt with both kinds of death. When he finally did speak again, his voice was low. "And how are you doing?"

"My knee was almost completely destroyed. They had to rebuild it, but it'll never be the same. Also, my kneecap had to be replaced. I'll have one really nasty scar when everything heals."

"How about sports?"

"I might be able to play soccer again, but not competitively. That means a rematch with you is out of the question."

"Oh." Guilt swamped him, though not for his best friend's injury. Why had he given him such a hard time at the soccer game nearly a year before? Why couldn't he have let the boy have _some _glory? But no, he was too wrapped up in being the Kaiser to let a Chosen Child win, and now Daisuke was the one paying for it.

"Well, I'd better get back to sleep," he decided, interrupting Ken's train of thought. "I'm still sedated and everything. I'm not even supposed to be on my feet. See you later."

"Yeah. Later."

Daisuke slowly hobbled back to bed while Ken slipped out the window to meet Wormmon. They still had one place left to visit before going home. There was still one last piece of unfinished business to settle.

* * *

Though it was nearing midnight, twenty-seven-year-old Reika Ootori and twenty-four-year-old Megumi Onodera were still doing their job as system operators for Hypnos. Their boss, thirty-three-year-old Mitsuo Yamaki, was tackling other business elsewhere. All the lights were on in the Metropolitan Government Building, but it was as dark as ever in the war room.

A small red blip appeared on the monitor, and the two women observed the disturbance in their goggles.

"Another emergence," Reika observed. "This time in the lower half of the district."

"Think we should alert Yamaki of it?" Megumi checked.

"I don't think so," Reika determined. "It doesn't seem to be too bad."

"And Ruki will be there soon anyway," Megumi joked.

It was an inside joke for anyone who knew the Tamers, the eleven-year-old heroes of Shinjuku. Whenever there was a disturbance, Ruki Makino was always the first to arrive, ready to fight the being that emerged. And now, over a year after she was forced to bid farewell to her Digimon, Renamon, she was still at it, determined to find her. Though many of the Digimon had returned during the lapse of time between the aftermath of the D-Reaper and now, Renamon and Lopmon had yet to return.

And sure enough, a young redheaded girl dressed in jeans and a T-shirt with a violet-blue heart embroidered on it was racing toward a column of light and smoke.

_Renamon, _she hoped.

"Young lady, just where do you think _you're_ going?"

Ruki groaned and turned at the sound of Hirokazu Shiota's voice. He stood grinning with his partner, Guardromon.

"Hirokazu, wait up!" called a more timid voice. Soon, Kenta Kitagawa, Hirokazu's partner-in-crime, appeared with his partner, MarineAngemon, in tow.

Ruki groaned once more. "And what are _you _doing here?"

"Takato, here they are!" alerted the voice of Guilmon. From the woods appeared his Tamer and creator, Takato Matsuda.

"Oh, uh, Ruki, um¡­oh boy," the goggle-headed boy stumbled.

"Ruki!" The girl was not surprised to see Takato's apparent love interest, Juri Katou, emerging from the foliage, carrying her unofficial partner, Culumon.

"Ruki!" Culumon cried, nearly tackling her. "I missed you, culu!"

"I missed you too, Culumon," she admitted. "Sorry I haven't been around as much as I used to."

"..._Moumantai,_ we'll find them soon..."

"Finally," Ruki muttered, "someone who has a legitimate reason for being here."

Terriermon continued assuring the two children he led that Ruki and the others were nearby. His Tamer, on the other hand, wasn't so sure.

"Here they are!" eight-year-old Shaochung "Shiuchon" Lee declared. Her nearly twelve-year-old brother Jianliang/Jenrya and his partner Terriermon soon followed.

"See?" Terriermon asked. "I told you!"

"Terriermon, I'm not kidding this time," Jenrya threatened.

"You're never kidding!"

"All right, is that everyone?" an impatient Ruki demanded. "Or are Ryo, Cyberdramon, Ai, Makoto, and Impmon going to pop up somewhere?" She turned to Shiuchon as they both slipped on a pair of sunglasses to protect their eyes from the fog and glare. "Come on. Let's find our partners."

"Lopmon, wait up!" the small girl called out. "We're coming!"

* * *

Hikari wasn't too worried about anyone discovering she'd snuck out. She had stuffed enough pillows under her sheets to fool even Tailmon into thinking she was still in bed. And her parents were still worried about Taichi's condition anyway, wondering whether he should be taken to the hospital now or in the morning.

There he was, Hikari observed once she reached Shibuya. Demon, the most dangerous foe they'd encountered was playing right into her hands, lingering around a district that attracted almost all of Odaiba's trouble. He was enough to make Vamdemon quiver in fear, and here he was in her clutches!

"Angewomon," she voiced.

"Holy Arrow!"

A single shining arrow lodged itself in Demon's left wing. Angered, he turned to see the archer hovering in the glow of the streetlights.

"One more move and she'll hit you again," Hikari threatened.

Just as she said that, a shout of "Heaven's Knuckle" interrupted whatever reply Demon was about to say. Lit by only the artificial lights of Shibuya was Angemon, a Digimon that was usually always by Angewomon's side. Running after him (and ignoring Hikari's presence for the most part) was Takeru.

"I can handle this myself," she informed Takeru.

"And you're doing such a good job at it," he replied sarcastically.

"Ah, taking revenge for your brothers and so-called friends?" Demon observed. "How noble."

"Blast Laser!"

A sudden blowing wind accompanied the rose-colored rings, signaling Aquilamon's flight. He took a quick swoop past them, dropping off Miyako.

"Get him, Aquilamon!" she cheered.

"Miyako, what are you doing here?" Takeru asked while Hikari's temper slowly worsened.

"I have a right to be here too, you know. They're my friends too."

"Spiking Finish!"

Stingmon's attack of choice alerted them all to Ken, who stood in the shadows as Stingmon flew over to him. The expression on his face was serious, and not at all unlike that of his post-Kaiser days. When Hikari saw him, all of her emotions boiled over.

"I don't see what's so hard for you to understand!" she shouted. "My brother, my fight--end of story!"

"Save it," Ken interrupted. "I have a little unfinished business of my own to take care of. Remember, Daisuke was the only one that believed in me, so I have more than just my usual vendetta here."

"This just makes things a whole lot easier," Demon decided. "Rather than hunt you down individually, I can just kill you all at once. Flame Inferno!"

The flames missed them, but just barely. The Digimon swooped in, taking the blows more for the sake of the worlds than for their partners. Never before had anything like this been done by any Digimon partnered to a human, and it never should have. The disharmonized Chosen didn't notice, however, and just angrily shouted out orders to their Digimon:

"Angewomon, that was pathetic! You call that fighting?"

"Stingmon, strike again! Harder!"

"Angemon, get him before they can! I don't care if they're your allies!"

"Aquilamon, faster! Don't let another flame come near you!"

The Digimon tried their hardest to follow orders, but it reminded them all too much of the orders the Kaiser used to give to his slaves. It was often said that people could become those they fought against, and it was certainly proven true in this case.

"Listen to them," Angewomon instructed. "I'd think I was following Vamdemon's orders again."

"Ken's acting no different than he did as the Kaiser," Stingmon observed.

"What's gotten into them?" Angemon questioned. "What's wrong with them?"

"I have no idea, but it's the worst possible time for it," Aquilamon commented.

"Chaos Flare!" Demon attacked, sending more flames to the children. With a Heaven's Knuckle, Angemon deflected it, only to be devolved into Patamon. Another rush of flames was sent forth, sliced apart by a Holy Arrow. Angewomon felt the consequences once the fire licked her and returned her to Tailmon's form. Similar fates awaited Aquilamon and Stingmon--or rather, Poromon and Minomon--as their efforts to protect their partners proved disastrous.

The devil king towered above the young warriors, spreading an aura of fear and despair. Nostalgia struck them all as they remembered what they had faced one cold January. And as they looked into the blue eyes of the devil, they wondered how it all could have come down to this. The fellowship had completely broken apart, just as in Tolkien's book. Only this time, there was no ring, but a single key. Even though the true item was not the literary One Ring, it was just as desired, and it too could bring about the end of all they knew. But as they looked up into the terrifying cerulean eyes of the demon king, it was suddenly apparent to them that the breaking of their friendship was meaningless. A friendship reaching out for over three years had been wasted for nothing. And over what? A single vision--that was what. One vision of destruction broke apart a friendship that had survived the forges of Hell. And it seemed they were at that summit again. The brunette girl from which the light originated held a small device close to her heart, refusing to give up. If they were going to pass through the Gates of Hell, they were not going to give Satan such an easy time.

"Gumimon! Chocomon!"

"Palmon, help them!"

The children turned to see two familiar figures: Wallace Ford and Mimi Tachikawa. Miyako scowled in disgust at the sight of them, but even she had to admit she was glad they came. For once, there was hope.

* * *

It was Saturday when the disbanded Chosen gathered in Gennai's study in the Digital World. Koushiro booted up the computer while Wallace uploaded into Yamato's and Taichi's digivices the key to open the gates. It was time to say goodbye to Taichi, Yamato, and Mimi, who would be venturing into the new world filled with the unknown in search of the mysterious new Kaiser. The only one not there was Daisuke, who rested at home.

As it had been decided that discretion was best, the three donned outfits that were not only practical for the Digital World--if there was one--but practical for the Real World as well. All three wore camouflage pants and black boots of U.S. Army regulations--compliments of Wallace and his uncle Greg, but their personal outfits differed. Yamato wore a black T-shirt supplied from his own wardrobe, Jyou's tan coat, and black gloves from Koushiro. Taichi had one of his long-sleeved T-shirts (brown--a change from his usual blue) and Takeru's green backpack. Mimi was supposed to be dressed in a white shirt of hers, Sora's old blue hat, and a denim jacket of Hikari's, but no one could find her.

"Where is she?" Taichi asked impatiently.

"Actually, I'm not coming," Mimi informed, walking out in her normal clothes. "Sora's taking my place."

"Sora?" her two partners repeated.

"That's right," she replied, limping in on crutches. Some of the others looked as though they'd been in on the plan changes, as Miyako handed her a first aid kit from I-mart, and Jyou placed it in his old blue duffel bag.

"I cut out the tag with my surname on it in case this ends up in the wrong hands," he informed.

"Thank you, Jyou." She then handed her digivice to Koushiro so he could make the necessary modifications.

"Oh, I just remembered!" Hikari declared, removing a large scrap of reddish-brown material from her pocket. "Here you go, Iori. It's Demon's hood. It's a gift, so you can feel like you were part of the fight."

"Who defeated him?"

Hikari's expression grew more serious. "Wallace and Mimi. Lilymon, Gumimon, and Chocomon saved us."

The young boy looked up at her with sad green eyes, and spoke almost as though ignoring her comment: "I don't want to feel like part of it, especially when I know there's death involved."

"That's why you're really here," Yamato realized. "It's because of your friend's death." They had refused to reveal that Demon had actually been there, knowing that the guilt would have been too overwhelming for the young boy.

Iori nodded. "After what happened to Akemi, the doctors wanted me to have positive stimulation because the medicine stopped working. I'm still expected to stay there for the remainder of the year." He handed the hood to Yamato, the person who had first clued him in on the problems back when Takeru's obsession with defeating the powers of Darkness had nearly destroyed their partnership during BlackWarGreymon's rampage. "Here. Sew it on your coat or something."

"Jyou, would you mind?" Yamato checked.

"No, go right ahead."

"Hey, Taichi," Takeru called, removing his white fisherman's hat. "Your hair. It's too noticeable."

"Yeah," Taichi agreed with a laugh. He took his blue headband and used it to tie back his mess of brown hair before placing the hat on his head. "So, are we ready to go?"

"Yeah," Yamato replied.

"Let's get to it," Taichi decided. "Come on, Sora."

"Wait," Ken interrupted. "You'll need names. If this new Kaiser knows what I do, he'll recognize the names Taichi, Sora, and Yamato. Sora, use Ai. Taichi is Yuuki."

"Our crests," Sora recognized.

"And Yamato, you're Amistad," he added. "It's Spanish for friendship."

"Thanks, Ken."

"Please take these," Hikari begged, giving Taichi the lyrics and drawing. "I know he's in trouble there."

"All right, Hikari."

"Well, that's everyone," Yamato observed, looking around.

"Not quite," Daisuke alerted, entering on crutches. On his shoulder was a tired, but otherwise fine, Chibimon. "I'm glad that in the Digital World, I can at least limp." He momentarily abandoned his crutches and limped over to them with a smile for the three travelers. "Good luck, okay?"

"Thanks," Taichi answered.

It was a strange gift, they realized as they passed through a gate of glowing blue and white energy. This was the last collaboration of the Chosen Children. And somehow, it was the most wonderful gift they'd ever been given.

**And this is where the story splits away from the actual show****, considering the Tamers should have already had their Digimon by then.**** Other tears from the regular universe include the movie _Diablomon Strikes Back,_ which doesn't happen and the fact that Wallace exists. However, I did keep to one thing in canon: the OSCD translations by KarenSedai/Kibou no Tenshi, in which Mimi mentions helping out at Ground Zero with a bunch of other Chosen. I'll never scoff at another "Mimi helps on 9/11" fic again.**

**The beer scene came from a similar scene in _X-2: X-Men United,_ where Logan asks Bobby if there's any beer, and Bobby replies no, that they're in a school and hands him a soda. And for Taichi and everybody knowing about Ryo: _Anode Tamers, Tag Tamers, D-1 Tamers _(probably at the rate this is going)and_ Brave Tamer_ are all in canon for this fic, despite continuity glitches in the show. But Daisuke and the others don't know Ryo because according to Ajora, the timeline in which they met was completely wiped out, so only Ryo and Cyberdramon will remember. The scene with Akemi's death was inspired by both the movie _A Beautiful Mind_ and Nic's upcoming fic, "Gone," featuring schizophrenia. T****he mental masturbation line was from Miss Parker in _The Pretender._**


	5. Learn to Fly

_"Take these broken wings_  
_I'm gonna take these broken wings  
__And learn to fly  
__And learn to fly away."  
__Savage Garden—"Gunning Down Romance"_

Echoes of Angels Who Won't Return  
Chapter Three, February-March: "Learn to Fly"

When the sun rose in the morning, all of the Kaiser's slaves knew it would be just another day in their accursed lives. Those on the day shift would get ready for their harsh labor while the night shift came into their cells, sank down on the hard cold floor with a rough blanket, and fell asleep.

Soon, soldiers and mercenaries of the Imperial Guard opened the doors to the cells and escorted the prisoners out. And on Cellblock 18, it was no different.

Colonel Reiyama, top-brass mercenary, unlocked the door to Cell 11. A middle-aged man and his ex-wife exited, saying goodbye to the people forced to remain inside. While they did that, Reiyama coldly glared at an eleven-year-old boy who lay against the wall on his right. The boy ignored the evil eye and sat up to talk to his stepmother. Thoroughly disgusted, Reiyama slammed the door, muttering something about insubordination.

The boy laughed quietly at Reiyama's reaction. It had been a week since the Kaiser had ordered that he remained in the cell for the duration of his recovery time, and Reiyama couldn't take the fact that he was powerless to torture the boy. It was one of the few joys of being in that place.

"Hey, singer!" a night shift worker whispered once the Imperials were gone. The boy got closer to the bars, revealing his Asian features, short raven-colored hair, and blue eyes. "Are you going to hold another concert today?"

"Maybe," he whispered back. "If my sister starts crying again."

"Good," the slave replied, revealing a toothy grin. "Your music is one of the few things that keeps us going. We'll miss it when you're moved back to your regular cell."

The young slave retreated into the shadows, guilt overwhelming him and erasing the slight smile that had been on his lips and in his eyes. With all he'd ever done in his life, he'd never felt the pressure of responsibility weighing him down as it did now. Everything he'd done up until that point was completely meaningless if he couldn't do something to help those unfortunate souls that shared his prison.

"Kouji, is something the matter?" his stepmother checked.

"No," he answered. "It's nothing. Just another one of those days."

* * *

Taiyou Tenshi sat in her bedroom, writing in her diary while the music of her brother's Ayumi Hamasaki CD drifted through the paper-thin walls. She didn't really care too much about the sound, so long as he didn't say anything while he did his work for the Resistance. She occasionally helped with the Chiba branch of the anti-Kaiser movement just as her brother worked for the Mt. Fuji division and her father helped deliver news about captured slaves to their families, but she didn't understand why her reclusive baby brother would ever want to take a gun and go out and fight—much less being teamed up with people, considering the way he avoided society in general—or why her father would be so willing to risk his neck to save a complete stranger. And that stranger was slowly creeping higher on her list of people to hate. 

"Taiyou?" her father addressed, stepping into her room. With him was a blonde teenager a few years younger than her eighteen, dressed in a black T-shirt and camouflage pants. "Oh, I thought the music was coming from here."

"No, Dad, that was Kage again. Want me to tell him to turn it down?"

"Yes, please. I'm trying to talk to this young man here."

"Is this about that halfling boy again?" she questioned.

"Halfling?" the anonymous teenager repeated.

"Taiyou, watch your language," Dr. Tadaaki Tenshi warned. "That boy is just as human as you and I are."

"Hmph," she replied, stepping out of her room. "Kage! I know you have an obsession with Ayumi Hamasaki, but please keep it down!"

"I apologize for my daughter and son," Dr. Tenshi informed, leading his guest downstairs.

"It's all right," the teenage boy replied. "I have a younger brother, so I know how they can be. Besides, I was pretty rebellious too when I was younger."

"But still, she had no right to use that kind of language just because I had to be spending more time with that patient than I do at home," the doctor insisted. "If only her mother were still here, then I wouldn't have so much trouble. Teenage girls are nearly impossible… Now, what was it you needed?"

"I was looking for information on a friend of mine," he answered. "Short black hair, blue eyes, age somewhere between ten and twelve? I don't know if he's been hiding his identity, so I can't give you his name."

"Sounds like the halfling to me!" Taiyou shouted from her room.

"Taiyou, that's enough!" Tenshi reprimanded. "Now that you mention it, I do have a patient matching that description. But he's not in the type of institution that would allow visitors. How did you meet him?"

"Well, he's an old friend. I met him years ago."

"All right," Dr. Tenshi replied, convinced of his alibi. "I'll make copies of his information and pass it to you tonight…"

"Amistad," he answered. "Just Amistad."

"Fine then, Amistad. We'll meet at ten, my office."

"Got it."

Amistad grabbed his coat and walked to the train station, hoping no Imperials would stop him for I.D. One inconvenience about this world was the need to take a train-like Digimon called Trailmon to get to the Digital World. The more days he spent in this world, the more he longed for digital gates. But it didn't matter. Finally, after a long week of searching, he would finally get the answers he needed on the person he'd been asked to find.

He boarded a Trailmon and sat in waiting to reach a place called the Forest Terminal. As he sat there, he removed a sheet of musical notes and lyrics from his pocket. Softly, he hummed the music, wondering about its significance.

A dense thicket of trees soon appeared, and Amistad stood ready to leave. He pulled his mahogany-colored hood over his golden hair and placed the music back in his pocket. A young man in a white hat and a young woman in a blue hat sat on a bench outside.

"Ai! Yuuki!" he greeted. Ai stood up on crutches while Yuuki helped her.

"I hate having to use these names," Yuuki muttered.

"I know, Taichi," Amistad, or Yamato, whispered. "But there are too many spies."

"Come on!" Ai—Sora—urged. "There's a soba restaurant nearby. We'll talk there."

Dera Soba was obviously not a popular hotspot as it was completely empty. A Deramon presented them with soba noodles on the house, and though the recipe was more than a little flawed, the three hungry teenagers ate without much complaint.

"I think we've gotten spoiled," Sora commented. "About four years ago, we wouldn't have cared that this tastes like a sweat sock cooked in rancid garlic."

"Well, we had been living off the land," Yamato reasoned. "Anything that could possibly remind of us civilization was greatly appreciated."

"Yeah," Taichi agreed, slurping up a mouthful of noodles. "Try and get Digitamamon in here. He'd be able to whip this place into shape."

"How were things at the Railroad?" Yamato checked once Deramon was far out of earshot. "Did those others finally come back from their mission?"

Taichi nodded. "Kage wasn't here today, but we got to meet the other kids. They were Chosen Children."

"What?" Yamato questioned. "Did they have Digimon?"

"None that we saw, but they had digivices," Taichi answered.

"But that's not all we found out," Sora added. "They explained to us that the Kaiser killed his own brother just before this tyranny was built. The Kaiser's name is Kouichi Kimura, and he was a Chosen too."

"Hmm," Yamato commented.

"And," Sora continued, "he is definitely the person we all saw after Oikawa's sacrifice."

"And that means he was the person Hikari saw," Taichi surmised. "But I couldn't ask about the singer. They were just so depressed—worse even than Iori. Himi explained it's because they're mourning the loss of a friend."

"Well, I think I know how to find our musician," Yamato informed. "Meet me wherever the Kaiser's base will be around ten tonight. I'm going to get the boy's medical records."

"From the base?" Taichi asked.

"No, from a doctor in Chiba. And I'd rather meet near Kouichi's base so we can keep an eye on his moves."

"Right," Sora agreed, understanding his methods. "If he could kill his brother, who knows what else he's capable of?"

"Ten then," Taichi agreed. Yamato placed money down on the table and walked out the door. His two friends merely looked down into the remains of the food in their bowls. So much had gone wrong already with Iori's insanity, Hikari's rage, Ken's reclusive life, Miyako's apathy, Takeru's hatred, and the others' injuries. Was there any guarantee that Yamato could get those files without getting killed in the process? And was there any guarantee that any of their sacrifices would be fruitful?

* * *

Daisuke sat on the bleachers of Odaiba Elementary, watching his soccer team play. Everyone in the school knew that he was the best player and worth more than half the team. Without him, they didn't stand a chance against Tamachi next week. 

"I thought it was out-of-season," Natsu commented behind him. She used her cane to guide herself to him and sat beside him, her shaded, sightless eyes focused upon the field. A weakened Chibimon made his way over to rest in her lap, and she stroked him gently with her good hand.

"Personal vendettas are never out-of-season, as we've all seen," Daisuke answered. There was a long silence, interfered with only the sounds of the frustrated soccer team as they practiced. Finally Natsu spoke.

"I hate it too, you know." Nodding, Daisuke drew her close to him. "I'm beginning to hate everyone, except you two. Why did it have to be us?"

"I don't know," was all Daisuke could say in reply.

* * *

Yamato hid in the shadows near Dr. Tenshi's private practice in Chiba. When he came and unlocked the door, Yamato finally emerged. 

"Dr. Tenshi?" he asked.

"Come inside," the doctor ushered.

He and Yamato walked into the building and headed for a storage facility in the back. Out of sheer instinct, Yamato became tense, wondering what could possibly be back there.

"I didn't have time to make copies of the information, so I'll have to give you the original file," he informed, handing Yamato a file folder. Inside was a picture and the little bit of medical information on the mysterious blues singer.

"Thank you," Yamato replied.

"Don't let anyone get hold of this," Dr. Tenshi cautioned. "The boy is bound to be hospitalized again, if not in the near future. If this information disappears, he will most likely die from incorrect treatment."

"I understand." Taking the folder and slipping it under his coat, he crept out of the office and in the direction of Ginza, where Taichi and Sora were waiting.

The night was busy as usual in the big city of Ginza, Tokyo, and Sora Takenouchi and Taichi Yagami were taking advantage of the bustling crowds that would not allow for trouble from local Imperials. They waited for their companion in a café, and tried to enjoy themselves with the coffees they'd ordered. Taichi slowly sipped his café au lait while watching Sora look out the window, her caramel coffee slowly becoming icy as she stared at the night scene.

"Don't worry," Taichi assured, catching her by surprise. "Yamato will be here soon."

"I know, it's just…"

"You can't stand the thought of him in danger," Taichi observed. "It's easy to understand. Love's funny that way. It can give you strength and take it away just as easily. You bore the Crest, so you should know all about it. Just watch. This will all be over soon, and you'll be in each other's arms again."

"And what about you?"

"I'll be fine," Taichi promised. "Sure, I'll have to deal with everyone trying to kill each other, but if they succeed, my problems are over. Besides, the important thing is that you're happy."

Sora smiled. She believed that the best way to show love was to let others love whom they wanted, and Taichi was certainly proving it true. "Thank you, Taichi."

Rather than answer, he stood up and stared in shock out the window. "Holy shit."

"What is it?"

"That boy walking slowly."

"What about him?"

Taichi fished Hikari's drawing out of his pocket and thrust it at Sora. "Now look."

Her face turned white with realization. "What?"

Without responding—or paying—Taichi ran out of the café, desperately searching for the boy he'd seen. Sora followed on her crutches, looking around.

"Where is he?" she checked.

"Not sure." He scanned the crowd for any familiar characters. "There!"

The boy saw him this time and began running. Taichi shoved past people on the street while the boy darted out of other's paths.

_He's fast, _Taichi realized. _I'll never catch up at this rate. _"Kid, wait up! I just want to talk to you!" The boy didn't stop, so Taichi gritted his teeth and continued running.

The boy kept running, occasionally looking behind him to see if Taichi was still following. Each time he saw that his pursuer was still there, he only ran faster. Finally, he crashed directly into a blonde man with cruel green eyes that were so pale they were almost yellow.

"Reiyama?" the boy recognized, a look of genuine terror plastered onto his face. The man smirked and began squeezing his shoulders so hard that he dropped to his knees in an attempt to break free. The pressure was enough that it was breaking his collarbones, and he was not the kind of person who could afford any more broken bones.

"Excuse me," the man identified as Reiyama addressed, "but has this boy been troubling you?"

Taichi saw the desperate look in the boy's eyes as he tried to break free, and knew there was no way he could just leave him in that situation.

"It's all right," he assured. "I can take care of this from here. Thanks for your help…"

"Colonel Reiyama."

"Thank you, Colonel." Taichi then took the boy's wrist and half-dragged him back to where Sora had lost them. "All right, kid, you've put us through a hell of a lot of trouble, so you'd better cooperate." Sora glared at him and his threat.

"He's scared enough," she noticed. "Don't go so hard on him." She turned to the boy and smiled sweetly at him. "Sorry about the trouble we've caused you and for his rudeness. He's actually nicer than that. My name is Ai. He's Yuuki. And you are?"

He pulled his arm free of Taichi's grip and rubbed it carefully. "Kouji," he answered quietly.

"Mind telling us what scared you so much about that guy?" Taichi questioned. "Are you in some kind of trouble or something?" Kouji didn't answer. "Look, we're not leaving until you answer my questions."

"Look," Sora pointed out in a whisper. "Around his neck—it's a Black Ring. He's a slave."

Shocked, Taichi nodded. "Kid—Kouji, is that Reiyama guy your warden?" No answer. "Well is he?" Again, no response. Losing his patience, Taichi grabbed Kouji's arm again but missing the jacket this time, exposing a white bandage wrapped around his wrist. The imprints of where his fingers had been when he'd grabbed him the first time were visible—with blood. "What the he…"

Kouji took this opportunity to tear free and run from them. Taichi attempted to take chase again, but Sora held him back.

"Don't. Right now all we've done is scare him," she reasoned. "He's definitely in danger, but the only way we'll find out anything is if we take it slowly. We have to build his trust."

Taichi calmed and pulled back, glancing at the blood that had gotten on his fingers. "Now I know what Hikari's dream meant when she said she saw him drowning in blood. Either this Kouji kid is self-destructive, or someone wants us to believe he is."

"Come on," Sora urged. "Let's see what Yamato found."

Yamato was approaching the café when they saw him. Immediately, the three ran up to each other and declared, "His name is Kouji!"

"What?" Yamato asked, confused as to how they knew.

"We actually saw him," Sora explained. "Taichi chased him several blocks. We didn't find out much about him except that he's a slave and he has a worse loner complex than you used to have."

"So did you find the records?" Taichi checked.

"Right here," Yamato answered, producing a folder.

"Fox Leaf Arrowhead!"

Quickly, the three Chosen hit the ground as glowing white arrowheads shattered the glass window of the café. A skilled assassin stepped out of the shadows, revealing sleek yellow fur and silken purple gloves. Angry, Taichi scooped up a handful of glass and arrowheads, and threw them at the assassin, hitting her in the face. She clawed them away and stared at him with such hating black eyes that would have fooled anyone into thinking she was uncontrolled.

"Fox Leaf Arrowhead!"

Taichi fell to the sidewalk, the arrowheads piercing him from his chest to his right hand. Blood leaked from his injuries as he lay unmoving in the glass shards, his eyes closed.

"Renamon!" a voice shouted—if a command in a strained voice just above the normal level could be called a shout. The assassin turned, as did Yamato and Sora, to see the mysterious Kouji standing nearby, his dark blue eyes blazing with a cold light.

"They have nothing to do with this," he continued.

"Wrong. _You _have nothing to do with this," she replied, speeding toward him. He quickly ducked out of the way, but not before feeling her Wisteria Punch strike his side. But he got up as though he hadn't, gripping what would have appeared to Yamato and Sora to be a blue-and-black D-3, if they had been able to see it.

"Spirit Evolution!" Kouji ordered, activating a dome of data bands around him. Never before had the duo seen a human evolve, and neither had the unconscious Taichi. The dome soon broke apart, revealing a creature resembling a white-and-gold MetalGarurumon. "Garmmon!"

Yamato and Sora had each seen his or her own fair share of surprises, but this one entirely blew them away. Ignoring all else, the Digimon that had once been Kouji came over to the three humans, slowly lowering his body.

"Get him on my back," he instructed. Both the conscious humans were still in shock. "Hurry!"

Fear over Taichi's condition made them forget their hesitation. Carefully, Yamato lifted Taichi's limp body and placed him on Garmmon's back.

"Follow me," he ordered.

Sora discarded one crutch and let Yamato carry her piggyback style as they followed Garmmon to the Ginza train station. They startled everyone, creating a mass panic as they headed to the elevator. A dome of data bands formed around Garmmon and Taichi, reverting the Digimon back to Kouji. Somehow through all of that, he'd managed to keep hold of Taichi, as he was holding Taichi's good arm around his neck and keeping him off the floor. Silence befell them all as the elevator lowered to the deepest depths of the border between the worlds, and the only change inside was the blinking of the digital writing on the Black Ring.

Finally, they arrived at the Trailmon station; Kouji carefully hauled Taichi out and placed him on the ground. He pried out each arrowhead and created a pile of them nearby. Sora came and took over for bandaging while Yamato looked at the bloodstained arrowheads.

"They make a good light source," Kouji explained in his quieted voice. "They're better than candles, and they don't go out."

"How did you do that?" Sora questioned. "I've never seen anyone that could become a Digimon."

"What you saw was my form with the Beast Spirit of Light. I have a Human Spirit too, but that form would have been useless to help your friend." He began to get up to leave, but Yamato stopped him.

"Do you know anything about this song?" he asked, handing over the lyrics and notes.

"How did you get this?" His expression was full of shock. "I didn't come up with the words until recently."

"It's not important right now," Yamato replied. "But you did write this, right?'

"Yeah, but…" His shocked expression tensed as the reality of the situation returned. "Spend the night in the Digital World." He reached in his pocket and handed over 399.35 yen. "Convert the currency if you need to; I know it's not a lot, but it should be enough to replace your bandages at least. I'll try to meet up with you tomorrow. Just find the Kaiser's base—that's where I'll be." They seemed reluctant to leave. "You have to board the Trailmon now. The Black Ring is telling Kouichi that I just evolved. You have to get to safety now, if not for yourselves, then for your friend."

"Come on, Yamato," Sora coaxed.

Kouji watched them as they boarded Trailmon Mole and headed to the Digital World. He could only hope that he'd be able to meet up with them again.

He took the elevator upstairs and raced toward the heart of Ginza. Just as he passed the shattered glass in front of the café, a cold, sticky darkness clung to his skin and his muscles froze in place. Before he knew what was happening, a heavy weight struck his back. He lost his balance and fell onto the sidewalk, scraping his arms and part of his face in the process.

"Did you really think you could get away with something so foolish?" the Kaiser demanded.

"Kouichi…" Kouji began, but didn't get much farther than that. An electrically charged blade slashed across his body repeatedly, eventually blacking out all his senses but pain.

* * *

White feathers gently stroked against Taichi's bronze-tanned skin. He stirred a bit before finally opening his eyes to a Digimon apparently of the Adult level and several Baby I and II Digimon. 

He sprang up quickly, aggravating the wounds on his body. He was surprised to see that there were fresh bandages on his torso and arm, as well as the fact that none of the Digimon was attacking.

"Glad to see you're awake," Yamato commented, handing his friend his shirt and hat.

"Swanmon was nice enough to watch you for the night," Sora informed. "But it looks like the Babies took a liking to you too."

"Where are we?" Taichi questioned.

"This is the Village of Beginnings," the feathered Digimon, Swanmon, explained. "It's the birthing and rebirthing place of the Digimon."

Taichi looked around at his surroundings in amazement. It was a reminder of home, but at the same time, it was also a reminder as to how much they were foreigners in that strange world. A large tree grew in the center of the Village, and plants all around appeared to be growing eggs. There was a saying: "O brave new world that has such people in it!" and it only barely adequately described his feelings at the moment. But it was still a brave new world.

"Incredible, isn't it?" Sora asked. "The Village of Beginnings back home grew soft toys on its trees. This one actually grows the Digimon. It's like something taken out of a science fiction movie, but I somehow feel like we're still at home."

"How did we get here?" Taichi questioned.

"Kouji risked his life to get us to a Trailmon," Yamato recapped. "If not for him, you wouldn't be standing here now."

"What happened to him after?"

"We don't know," Yamato confessed, looking toward the ground. "But he did admit he was the singer Hikari kept seeing."

"We'd better take a look at his file now," Sora decided. She limped on her one crutch to get to another clearing in the wood, one that wasn't as occupied. A plastic bag glowed with the Fox Leaf Arrowheads that had been plucked out of Taichi's skin. Upon seeing his confused face, Sora explained, "Kouji told us these would make a good light source, and he was right. We've been using them instead of the flashlights we brought."

"Come on," Yamato urged. "Let's take a look at this."

The folder only contained a small amount of information: Kouji's full name (his surname was Minamoto), his year of birth (1991), his blood type (A), and an odd piece of information involving "Spirits."

"What are these 'Spirits' that were mentioned?" Taichi asked.

"There's not a whole lot of information, but Kouji said he had two of them: a Human Spirit and a Beast Spirit," Sora explained. "He uses them to become a Digimon himself."

"You're kidding," Taichi challenged.

"No," Yamato answered. "We watched him use the Beast Spirit to become a Digimon called Garmmon. This Wolfmon listed must be his Human Spirit. I don't know if someone ran experiments on him or anything, but it's possible and likely if he was a slave like you and Sora say."

"Yamato, why is his family information blotted out?" Sora questioned.

"Dr. Tenshi didn't want this information to fall into the wrong hands," he explained. "His daughter called Kouji a 'halfling,' which I learned meant 'child of a human and a Digimon.' I guess he wants it to look like Kouji _is_ such a creature, so he had to blot out any human names." His voice lowered considerably. "And that would explain the Spirits—Kouichi would want him to _be_ a halfling."

Sora let out a sigh as she looked up at the three moons in the sky. "We'd better head back to the Railroad. Amistad needs to meet the Chosen and Kage."

"All right," Yamato agreed, packing up the file.

"Don't wear your jacket," Taichi advised. "They might not take well to Demon's symbol on the hood."

"Then it looks like I ruined Jyou's jacket for no reason," Yamato commented.

"It wasn't for 'no reason,'" Sora protested. "This _has _been keeping Kouichi, or at least the Kaiser, from recognizing you."

"Yeah," he agreed. They looked at him for an order. He felt stressed at taking Taichi's position; but as the musician, it was his duty to lead them on this mission. "Well, I guess it's time to go."

* * *

Morning dawned in Ginza, and the rays of sunlight streamed in through the windows of Cell 11. As he opened the door to the cell, Reiyama couldn't help but smirk at the injured boy who lay half-conscious on the stone floor. His back was still bleeding, and the bandages on his wrists would need changing. In addition, he'd been hit in the head, so he was still very much out of touch with reality. But he was aware enough to know that he would not be going out that night and aware enough to know that he could not meet with those three strangers that night and more than aware enough to recognize his warden's pleasure. Kouji painfully rolled to his side in an attempt to block out the mocking smile, but Reiyama kicked his back, sending a sharp pain through his body. It was nothing new. It was just another morning in his accursed life.

* * *

A relieved Terriermon rested on his Tamer's head. Jenrya was typing away on the computer, but his head still made a comfortable seat and his blue hair made the perfect soft pillow—whatever shampoo his mother had bought him was definitely worth the money if the Tamer's head was this cozy. Shiuchon could be heard down the hall, singing as she dressed up Lopmon in all sorts of doll clothes. Normally, Terriermon got the unwelcome cross-dressing experience, but twin Tamers Ai and Makoto Shimamura had come over for a play date and had brought their shared Digimon, Impmon, with them. They wanted Lopmon to play the girl's part. The nearly six-year-olds were currently joining Shiuchon in a game of "Wedding." 

"Shiuchon, no more, please!" Lopmon begged.

"Ai, Makoto, I'll become Beelzebumon, I swear!" Impmon threatened.

"I should have taken Zhuqiaomon-sama's offer to go back to being a Deva…"

"Deletion's looking pretty good right now…"

Terriermon smiled at their comments. They were almost the same ones he used to make all the time.

"Enjoying yourself?" Jenrya asked.

"Yep!"

"That isn't exactly nice, you know."

"_Moumantai_, Jen. Consider it their sentencing."

"Sentencing?"

"Well, Impmon killed Leomon, and Lopmon used to be a Deva, so they both needed to pay for their actions."

"And who are you to pass judgment when you go crazy with power too? Have you forgotten that little incident where you nearly shot Ruki? She certainly hasn't. Besides, don't you think defeating the D-Reaper was a good enough repentance?"

"Jen, you've got to see this!" his eighteen-year-old brother, Rinchei, shouted. He held out his camera phone and was already snapping pictures. "I think these will make a nice wallpaper for Dad at work."

"Shiuchon, Ai, and Makoto took some of Mrs. Makino's dresses and put together Lopmon's wedding dress," his nearly seventeen-year-old sister, Jaarin, added. "It's priceless!"

Shiuchon, Ai, and Makoto stepped aside to reveal two humiliated Digimon. Impmon wore Rinchei's bowtie from some formal dance with a hat of Jiang-yu's. Lopmon wore Ruki's least favorite dress and a veil consisting of one of Mayumi Lee's lace curtains. His brown-and-pink ears were tied up with some of Jaarin's hair ribbons, and both wore wedding rings made from soda pull-tabs.

"That explains why you wanted my empty soda can," Jenrya realized with a laugh.

"Hey, Jen, what are your friends' e-mail addresses?" Rinchei questioned. "They'll love this!"

"No, Rinchei," Lopmon begged. "I never did anything to you…"

"Lopmon, what did I say about using '_ware_'?" Shiuchon scolded. "Use modern speak!"

"Well, Ruki doesn't use the computer much," Jenrya continued, "but she occasionally uses her grandmother's account."

"Oh no, not Ruki!" Impmon declared, tearing out of his costume.

"Impmon, come back here!" Ai called.

"It took forever to get all that stuff on you!" Makoto added.

Jenrya laughed all the harder at the spectacle. It was the hardest he'd laughed since Ryo e-mailed to say that Monodramon had gotten hold of a tape with _Rurouni Kenshin _reruns and had begun jumping on the couch singing the third ending theme, "Heart of Sword," entirely off-key. Following the incident, Monodramon had evolved to Cyberdramon, who had far too much pride and shame to do such a thing. He had refused to devolve since.

_Well, I guess that's what comes with having all the Digimon back, _he thought as he walked back to his room. "Come on, Terriermon. I have the strangest urge to hear the wedding march and 'Heart of Sword.'"

* * *

Himi sat in the mess hall of the Railroad, fine-tuning his weapon: a black laser pistol with three settings—stun, burn, and kill. It was the very same one he'd used against DeathMeramon in Shibuya. He rarely used it now due to his unofficial partner, Gabumon, who sat beside him. The Chosen had come, bringing along their friends Amistad, Yuuki, and Ai. Kage sat a little further back, working on something on his computer. 

"Kage built all this?" Amistad asked in amazement.

"I was more of the developer," he explained. "I calculated everything, but Kae was the one that organized a team to dig everything and get it reinforced."

"Himi-san, is something wrong?" Gabumon questioned. His partner was staring off into space as he rubbed the same metal plating for fifteen minutes.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing Gabumon. Just a little stressed, that's all."

"Yutaka _onii-chan_, what's wrong?" Tomoki checked.

"Nothing really. I was just remembering that entire Resistance team that got captured."

"The one that happened after the second assassination?" Kage asked.

Yuuki turned to look at him. "Second?" he repeated, his voice tense and wavering. Was it possible their helper, Dr. Tenshi, had been killed? "Who was the second?"

"Nari Ayamisa," Izumi answered. "The first was…" Her voice was choked with tears. Takuya tried to put his hand on her shoulder, but she pushed it away.

"The Kaiser's brother," Ai realized. "He was your friend, wasn't he?" The Chosen nodded.

"I used to date Kouichi," Izumi continued. "He promised that they would try and surprise me on my birthday because I was a Gemini and they were twins." A hurt smile found its way on her face. "I loved to tease them about that coincidence."

Ai looked at her compassionately and spoke in her gentlest voice. "How did he die?"

"Strangulation? Electrocution? Maybe both?" Izumi shrugged. "All I know is that we got there too late." Ai looked back at Yuuki and Amistad, who both wore expressions of sympathy.

Miyagami and Takamoto soon stumbled in with a small group that had been fighting in the northern part of the district. Their faces were pale, and they looked like they would either faint or throw up—maybe both.

"What's the problem?" Himi questioned.

"Kae…" Miyagami's voice squeaked as he said her name. Kage looked up immediately.

"What about her?" he asked.

"She was captured," Miyagami continued.

"Tell me you're kidding," Kage pleaded.

"No," Takamoto replied, his deep voice choked up. "It was one of those damn landmines. She didn't see it, and it blew her whole left leg off. She told us to go on without her. I think she was captured, but there's no way to tell."

"This is all his fault!" a seventeen-year-old named Ataru declared, walking toward Takuya. "The Kaiser's brother. If it wasn't for him, none of this mess would have started!"

"How could it be his fault if he died before the worst of it?" Takuya demanded.

"What? You expect him to suddenly leave the afterlife at any given time?" Junpei added.

"It doesn't work that way," Tomoki agreed, "and even if he were alive, there's no guarantee he'd be able to fight Kouichi!"

At this point, Miyagami and Takamoto were holding Ataru back. Himi had a firm grip on his brother's shoulders, and Ai, Yuuki, and Amistad were holding back Takuya and Junpei.

"Don't you think he'd know something?" Ataru questioned. "They were twins, so maybe his weaknesses are the Kaiser's too."

"No, they weren't!" Izumi declared angrily, shocking them all. "Though they were identical twins, they were two completely separate and wonderful people! One boy's weakness was another's strength, and it was always simple to tell them apart! They weren't two halves of the same person or two of the same; they were two people with some similarities and differences." A tear fell to the ground, but she ignored it. "And they were two of the most important people in the world to me."

"All right, that's enough!" Kage decided, abandoning his computer. "I have had enough of this disrespect for the deceased. Every other day, there's another fight involving this person. Kae wouldn't stand for it, and neither will I, seeing as I'm the new commanding officer here. Now, anyone who chooses not to follow my rules can leave. The choice is yours: either stay here on this team and have a chance to live, or leave and face almost certain death out there. I can guarantee you it will be no picnic." Everyone was silent. "Ironic, isn't it? By honoring and respecting the dead, you can ensure your own life. Now, on my computer are the plans of a weapon of sorts that agents in Vancouver, Cape Town, Philadelphia, and Beijing have sent me. They've been using it in the Digital World, and it's been working so far. This weapon will help Himi most of all, but I can't guarantee anything. Also, my father has been treating a slave in the Kaiser's base. He might be able to figure out what the Kaiser's next move is, or he might be able to find Kae. I'm going to check with him now; he said he would be in Yokohama, searching for evidence on Nari Ayamisa's murder and how it's connected to the first assassination." As he turned and walked out of the tunnel, he whispered, "Himi, Amistad, Ai, Yuuki, thanks. I don't know what might have happened if you didn't intervene."

He ran off, hiding his identity with a pair of darkened contact lenses and falsified papers in case the Imperial Guard stopped him. Those under his command stared after him with a new sense of wonder and respect.

The other Chosen went over to Izumi, who was discreetly trying to wipe her tears.

"Come on, Izumi," Takuya urged. "We promised we wouldn't remember him that way."

"I'm okay," she assured. "But I had a dream about him last night. Usually, when I see him in these dreams, he's angry, but this time he was in pain. He sat all alone in the darkness. I could almost feel him crying. But when I woke up, I found only my own tears."

Ai, Yuuki, and Amistad exchanged glances. In their experience, dreams like that were never good. But rather than mention that, Ai commented, "We don't ever want to think of anything but happiness for someone that died. It's human nature."

"Maybe you could build some kind of remembrance shrine to him," Yuuki suggested. "A friend of ours has one for his father. What was your friend's religion? After all, it would be embarrassing to build a Buddhist shrine if he was Shinto."

"He didn't have a religion," Izumi explained. "His father was an atheist or something and his stepmother was a non-practicing Shinto."

"Then build something just for him," Amistad advised. "Take whatever you can find. Put his soul to rest."

"You could try a mock funeral," Himi reasoned, "since his body burned in the fire."

The four Chosen nodded. This was an idea they could consider. Not only would they be able to put him to rest, but they could put themselves to rest as well.

* * *

Kage wandered the unfamiliar streets of Yokohama, trying not to look like an outsider. But as he approached the middle of the street, a circle of police officers caught his attention. 

"…Looks like another one…"

"…No more than a traitor, I say…"

"…Prisoner went crazy… Attacked the Kaiser…"

"Psst!" whispered a voice from nearby. Kage turned to see his sister.

"Taiyou?"

"Shh!" she hissed, motioning for him to come. Checking to make sure no one had seen him, he walked over.

"Tai, what is it?" he questioned.

"Dad was just assassinated," she informed. Kage stared at her in horror. He knew she wouldn't lie, especially not about something like this. "That brings the total to three. It all has something to do with that halfling slave, Minamoto."

Kage's eyes were still wide with shock. "That must be the prisoner they mentioned."

"Exactly," she answered. "Now, I'm heading to the Digital World with the Chiba Resistance. I want you to head for Mt. Fuji, and don't stop. Whatever you do, don't go home. They'll be waiting there." He looked at her with a hesitation to leave. "Look, if we need help, I'll contact you. I promise."

He hugged her firmly, showing the emotion he buried in front of his squad. "I'll see you soon, Tai _onee-chan_."

Taiyou stared after him as he ran off. "Take care, _ototo-chan_. It's back to business for you now." Only when she was sure that he wasn't going to be pulled aside by any Imperials did she turn in the opposite direction and run for the Chiba Resistance base. Tears would have to wait; revenge would have to wait… It wasn't until much later when she was aboard a Trailmon, heading full speed to the Digital World, did she finally let her bittersweet tears fall from her vengeful blue eyes. The halfling would pay for this assassination, and she would wait until the end of the world if necessary to take his payment in nothing other than blood.

* * *

Ryo Akiyama sat in his bedroom, typing a message to Jenrya and the others on his laptop. Nearby, Cyberdramon sat in an authoritative position, as though trying to protect his Tamer. With his loyalty, it was hard—no, _impossible_—to believe that a part of him was Millenniumon, who at a time would have stopped at nothing to kill him. But it was a relief to the nearly sixteen-year-old that Cyberdramon's viciousness was now controlled by protective instincts. 

Jenrya's brother Rinchei had just sent a hilarious picture of Lopmon and Impmon dressed up as bride and groom. Ryo found that he had to fight to hold back laughter at the sight. It only made him wish he'd taken a recording of Monodramon's performance of "Heart of Sword."

_Well, Lee, _he thought, _at least I know you're in a good mood. Now I know you'll take better to my request._ As he typed, his right sleeve pushed up, revealing a gruesome scar stretching from his wrist to his elbow. This was Cyberdramon's mark on him—a vicious bite he'd taken when he lost control during a battle. It had taken a long time for Ryo to explain that to his dad and an even longer time to explain that Cyberdramon was perfectly safe to be around. But that was all in the past now, along with the opponents they'd sought and Ryo's old missions from Gennai. His current mission was to contact that lovable old guy again, and contact Ken, Taichi, and the others as well. And for that, he needed Jenrya Lee's help, or more specifically, his connection to Hypnos.

* * *

March 12 had been a nightmare that soon passed. For the remainder of the week, Thursday through Saturday, the Chosen had been working on an empty grave for their lost friend. Because there had been no body to bury, Izumi placed a single photo under the soil. It had been a picture of sentimental value to her: a photograph she'd taken when he wasn't looking, so he was perfectly calm and lost in thought—his true self, according to the Chosen. Yet even though they were told all this, the others in the Resistance were not allowed to see the photograph. The memory was still too painful, and the pain was still too fresh. At sunset that Saturday, they were to hold the funeral. It was the only way they could pay their respects without compromising the friendship they'd forged to pass beyond the realm of the dead. 

On that day, near the time for the funeral, Amistad, Yuuki, Ai, and Kage suited up for a rescue.

"Thanks to Miyagami and Takamoto, we know that the Kaiser's slaves are brought in at six on the dot," Kage explained. "We won't be able to save all the slaves, but we'll get Kae."

"One question," Takuya interrupted, "what if she's on the night shift?"

"She isn't," Takamoto assured. "Chideta and I checked to be sure."

"All right, so the four of you will go in," Himi observed. "The rest of us will wait on the mountain for the precession."

"Let's move out," Kage decided.

The Kaiser's base was located in Odaiba, an area Kage's partners knew well. The slaves were picking up discarded Imperial weapons near an elementary school while the four fighters waited inside the school's gates.

"Where's Kae?" Yuuki asked quietly.

Amistad looked around. A woman of thirty-something hobbled about on wooden leg, trying not set off any explosives. On occasion, a humanoid Digimon in silver-and-blue armor would come over and defuse a mine or defective weapon.

"Is that her there?" Amistad whispered. "The woman that Digimon's helping?"

Yuuki checked. "Yep. That's her all right."

"All right then," Kage decided. "Yuuki, Amistad, go in. Ai, stay here."

"No," she argued, pointing. "The Digimon sees already. He's coming over."

Discreetly, they made their way over to the Digimon, who was allowing Kae to lean on his shoulder. He connected his brown eyes with Amistad's blue before carefully observing the others. A look of near-relief swept across his face as he saw Yuuki, but he hid it by handing Kae over to the four Resistance fighters.

"Run," he ordered in a calm whisper.

"Kaiser!" an Imperial soldier alerted, pointing. "A prisoner's escaping!"

"Run!" the Digimon ordered once more.

The Kaiser came over to the Digimon and struck him with the whip. Ai dared to look back as she ran. Kae's rescuer was being brutally beaten, even worse than those that lived under the first Kaiser's reign. But worse, in the distance, a mercenary—not that Reiyama guy, but someone lower in rank—was counting out money and handing it to a slave.

_Hush money?_ Ai wondered momentarily. But all too soon she determined—from the cheers of some of the slaves in the crowd—that it was a won wager. Slaves were betting against their own.

"Sora, come on," Amistad urged softly.

"We have no time," Yuuki added.

"Yamato, Taichi…" she began.

"I know," Yuuki answered. "I hate thinking of how he has to suffer too. It's wrong for anyone—human, Digimon, or halfling—to face that."

"But we have to keep going," Amistad continued. "If we don't, his sacrifice will be in vain." Never before had he said that, and for once in his life, he now knew why Taichi had pushed them to continue their journey against the Dark Masters nearly four years before.

"Kage," Kae addressed, "take me to the nearest Resistance base. I will not be able to withstand the journey to the Railroad."

"But…" he protested.

"Kage Tenshi, you are their leader now," she informed. He nodded.

"But what about that Digimon?" he asked, voicing Ai's fears.

"Wolfmon will be all right for now," she assured. "He is a protector to the slaves, and he has done this kind of thing many times. The Kaiser will not—or cannot—kill him." He nodded his understanding and kept running, though Ai trailed behind.

"What is it?" Amistad questioned, turning with Yuuki.

"Didn't you hear what she said?" Ai asked. "She said his name was Wolfmon. That means that was Kouji back there."

A somber silence overtook the trio as they ran the remainder of the way to the Odaiba center-of-command. They felt wrong about leaving him behind, but they knew they had to. Someday, they would return to save him. But even with that promise, the silence remained as they went to the pathway of Mt. Fuji, where the last rays of the setting sun were visible.

On the side of the mountain path was a mound of dirt the same length of a human body. Encircling it were white stones and lit blue candles. The Chosen were all choked up with tears, unable to speak. Kage stepped forward, saving them the pain.

"I know that I've never met the person we are here to mourn tonight. I don't even know his name. But I do know that he left a deep impression on those who did know him, and even on those who didn't. Wherever you are, whoever you are, I hope you know that there are those here who loved you. They miss you, and they won't forget anything about you."

Amistad stood looking at the mound of dirt encircled by light. All around him, people were silent in their sorrow. But he couldn't keep the suffocating calm there. To him, it was an unfinished melody, just waiting to be sung.

He wasn't sure when it happened, but somehow he found Kouji's song clenched in his hand. He didn't know the person they were mourning, but he felt that the one true death was forgetting or not knowing. To forget was how to kill the dead. He held out the paper and began singing the last chorus.

He meant to leave it at that, but a young man with spiky bluish-black hair and gold-rimmed glasses stepped forward. Although he appeared to be only eleven, he seemed older somehow. Dressed in a long-sleeved navy blue T-shirt, a green hooded T-shirt, and jeans, he was as out-of-place as the others, but he didn't act it. There was something about him that seemed familiar, but Amistad just couldn't place it. He looked at Amistad with strong-willed indigo eyes that reminded him somewhat of Kouji's, causing the young man to finish singing…

Only this time, the familiar boy accompanied him, without reading the lyrics:

Once the duet had finished, Amistad, Ai, and Yuuki had a mind to go talk with this newcomer, but he seemed to be consoling Izumi, who needed every bit of comfort offered.

"Was he a friend of yours?" he asked. "I noticed the way you were crying, so it was my best conclusion."

"He was," she answered. "He was a very close friend, one of the people we could always talk to when we had a problem—you know what I mean?"

"Sadly, no." He lowered his head, causing the candlelight to ethereally reflect off his glasses. "I never had many friends when I was growing up. I only had my brother."

"That's the way he was too, only he met his brother later," Takuya informed, walking over. "I've never seen you around. Are you from the settlement?"

"You could say I'm visiting," he replied. "I just want to offer my condolences. I know how painful it is to lose a loved one to the darkness of the world. I've experienced that pain for about three years." The expression on his face said the matter was something he did not wish to discuss. "How old was he?"

"Eleven, not even twelve," Izumi answered. "His birthday wasn't until September 27."

"Next to me, he was the youngest in our group," Tomoki added as he and Junpei joined the small gathering.

"He may have been the second-youngest, but he always acted the most mature," Junpei added.

"Sounds like the complete opposite of the person I lost," the visitor commented. "My brother was only eight, and could be counted on to be immature. In the end, I think I pushed him too far. I didn't understand that what I saw as immaturity was actually his most innocent and beautiful trait, and he paid for it. I yelled at him and said some horrible things that I never should have even thought. Because of that, the person most important to me was gone forever. But the innocent person I remember still lives in here." He gestured to his heart. "But he'd kill me if he knew that I blame myself for what happened to him."

"So would our friend," Izumi realized. "I half-expect him to walk up here and see us all crying. He'd be so embarrassed, turning eight different shades of red. He never liked people making a fuss about him."

"I agree," the visitor commented. "It _would _be interesting to see his reaction if he found out about this."

"It's the little things like his modesty that we miss the most," she continued.

"Of course. In my case, my brother's kindness and gentleness are what can never be duplicated. They were a gift like no other, and they're what I miss most. That and his smile."

"Our friend didn't smile a lot," Takuya recollected, "but when he did, we always knew it was genuine." Miraculously, he smiled, leading everyone else to. "In fact, he was honest about a lot of things—maybe too many."

The stranger was also smiling, reminding them of their friend as he looked at each of them. "Thank you for taking the time to talk to me and tell me a little about your friend. And thank you for listening about my brother's scenario."

"Hope you learn to cope with your brother's fate," Izumi wished. But the look on his face said that he thought it was wrong to call it "fate." How could it be that Fate would want to do something so cruel to such a kind boy? "I mean, his loss."

"And I hope _you _learn to cope with that of your friend's," he replied, glancing up at the night sky. The stars were shining and the moon was almost full. "Even the most broken wings can heal and fly again." And with that last enigmatic remark, he walked away, seeming to vanish in the darkness.

* * *

Hikari sat at her desk, doing homework while Tailmon placed a CD in the player. A knock sounded at the door, and Agumon led Taichi in. 

"_Onii-chan_?" Hikari questioned. "I didn't think you would be back until the beginning of April."

Taichi silently placed a file on Hikari's desk while Agumon warned, "Put that someplace safe. He, Yamato, and Sora risked their lives for it."

"What is it?" Tailmon asked, voicing the question before her partner could.

Rather than answer the question, Taichi stepped out the door. But before closing it, he informed, "In case you were wondering, he has a name. It's Kouji Minamoto."

Hikari smiled as the door closed. "Thank you, _onii-chan_."

_-sama: a very respectful suffix, similar to "Lord" or "Lady"_

_Ware: an almost obsolete word for "I." This is more commonly used in samurai movies and by Lopmon_

_Onee-chan: older sister, but the less formal version_

**Ayumi Hamasaki was obsession of DMF member Indigo/Brian , who actually said the original fic was good. Natsu's line "I'm beginning to hate everyone… Why did it have to be us?" was based on a line from Na-chan's image song "Only Lonely." The café in Ginza is supposed to be the same one Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna are in during the Snow Dancer attack in the _Sailor Moon S _movie _Princess Kaguya's Lover._ Taichi's chase scene is based off of something similar in the _Ghostwriter _episode "Who Burned Mr. Brinker's Store?" while his and Kouji's earlier feeling about being content seeing the people they love happy was from _CCS._ The 399.35 yen was left over from what Archnemon gave Kouji in the flashback in the "With Broken Wings" chapter "Shiny Days." The "brave new world" thing came from "Doppelgangland," which will have a crossover with this some time in the future. The experiment theory was also from there, from the character Kouen. There was no reason for the Lopmon/Impmon torture scene other than to lighten up such a dark chapter and give Ryo an opening to ask for a favor, as well as give Rinchei some actual lines. And "Heart of Sword" is one hell of a good song. The cities Kage mentioned are where my friends are from or live near: Vancouver—Alisha/C. Queen, Cape Town—Nic/Ken's luver, and Philadelphia—Whitney/Fuzzy Wuzzy Whitnery. Beijing was important in "With Broken Wings," and got a spot. The idea of forgetting being the way to kill the dead was the Trader belief in _The Circle of Magic_ by Tamora Pierce. And nobody remembers were she got Taichi's last line from. There are _Pretender _references, but I don't feel like naming them. **


	6. What Shall Be Now?

_"Now that we have reached this last encounter,  
__Where are we now?  
__What shall be now?  
__How could we have come so far to give up?  
__We won't give up  
__We can win."  
__Linn Minmei—"We Will Win," unpublished lyric: Robotech_

Echoes of Angels Who Won't Return  
Chapter Four, April: "What Shall Be Now?"

He'd chosen his invisible form this time, knowing that his duty required stealth. Quickly, and without a single hesitation, he passed through the walls of the Kaiser's base until he penetrated through to the dank Cell 24. Once he was sure that no one would wake up, he solidified and walked over to the unconscious Kouji Minamoto.

He had to desperately fight back the anger that burned at him. It was bad enough the darkness of the cell caused the boy to suffer from seasonal affective disorder—if it could even be called that when the only season in there was a false dark winter—but the pressures of being a slave, having the lives of his family constantly in danger, the never-ending beatings, and the knowledge that it was his only brother Kouichi who committed these heinous acts disheartened him even further. It had gone so far that he was afraid to call Kouichi his brother, afraid to admit that someone in his hard-won family could do this.

_"Osamu, calm yourself,"_ Qinglongmon warned. _"None of these occurrences are your fault. You're doing the best you can."_

He didn't reply. He knew that, but the Mind Illusion still haunted him. He needed to be able to help, or else watch the young man die. Kouji had been unconsciously reaching out to his friends, and with the interference of Hikari Yagami's gift, he'd been able to reach Izumi late one night in March and had allowed his emotions to slip through.

Osamu placed two fingers behind Kouji's right ear, where a large cut dripped blood. Kouichi had beaten him early on in the morning, his anger brought on by the fact that Kouji had finally learned to block him from his mind. Once the Kaiser realized he no longer was able to have control over the boy, he was infuriated and struck him repeatedly with the whip, even after Kouji could no longer open his eyes. He had been unconscious since.

Several drops of blood passed through Osamu's non-living skin, allowing him to take on the unconscious boy's appearance and wounds. Carefully, he moved him over to the wall and placed him in a recovery position, just as Dr. Tenshi had done two months ago. But the movement had stirred up a coughing fit from Kouji, and phlegm and blood exited his lungs in great amounts.

_No wonder he was in such bad shape,_ Osamu realized. _He couldn't breathe!_

Hurriedly, he rushed to get some toilet paper, which he wadded up and positioned to stay in front of Kouji's mouth. The Black Ring occasionally blinked, stirring up memories of watching Ken take over the Digital World while he had to helplessly surrender his role of older brother to five strangers. Inspiration soon struck him as he remembered the two who had most readily accepted the role, even though Osamu had still been alive when the other took up the part: the boy who had found the Digimental of Miracles and his predecessor, who'd used the same Digimon.

_This could work! _he mentally exclaimed. _Qinglongmon, do you remember how Gennai had to loan V-mon to Ryo because Daisuke was far too young and immature to be a Chosen?_

_"Yes, but what is the significance?"_

_Ryo and Daisuke weren't related at all, but the necessity of the time allowed Ryo to use the D-3. If the necessity of the time now is Kouji's condition, is it be possible for me to temporarily use his D-scanner? After all, the power of Light is drawn to its source, right?_

Qinglongmon's voice was a bit lighthearted, as though he was laughing. _"Yes, Gennai and I did tell you that. But be careful with how you use this power."_

"I will, Qinglongmon," he whispered. "And thanks."

He reached down and removed the defuser from Kouji's neck, taking the D-scanner as well. But there was one last element to his guise that was vital. With his left hand, he took hold of the Black Ring, using the power of the Light Seed to open it. Then he placed it on his own neck, knowing it would probably break easily due to the Light Seed's roots' rejecting the evil darkness. Once finished, he used his illusionist abilities to conceal Kouji's body, and the healing abilities of the Light to calm the boy's coughing.

_Asphyxiation—not a pretty way to die, _he reflected. _And don't I know it._ Automatically, he placed his hand against his chest, remembering how his ribcage collapsed and crushed his lungs after his accident.

As he walked over to the other side of the cell, he observed two tiny blue eyes staring at him through the darkness. It was the baby, Kouri, and she had most likely felt the change in her brother's condition. Silently, he picked her up and held her as gently as he could, trying to lull her back to sleep.

"It's all right, Kouri," he coaxed. "This can't go on forever. There are people who will stop Kouichi, and bring him back to normal." In the dim light, he could see that she was staring at him as though he was a stranger, which he was of course, but it was still surprising. "I guess there's no fooling you. You have a gift—the one my brother's friend does, but even stronger than she or your brothers do. There's something special about you. You'd know Kouji anywhere." She replied in soft cooing sounds—easily comprehensible to anyone who knew the language of death, as Osamu did. An infant's language of fresh life was no different, although the tongue was long forgotten by the time the child reached a certain age. "He's all right," Osamu assured. "But it's Kouichi that worries me. I don't know that he'll do next." She babbled back to him again, and he replied in his choice language of Japanese: "No, I don't think he'll kill him. But I don't know what will happen next. He's gotten too far out of control. I may need some help soon. You're all going to need to escape very soon."

For a few precious hours, he sat in the dark, talking to Kouri as he slowly soothed her to sleep. Somehow, it was like when he was eight and he and Ken would blow bubbles on the terrace outside their bedrooms at their apartment. True, blowing bubbles and conversing with a baby were entirely different, but both were beautiful lessons to Osamu, helping him embrace both life and death.

"It's a cruel circle we deal with," he admitted, "but there's really nothing better."

"Talking to yourself again, halfling?" Kouichi questioned. Osamu automatically let out a sigh, wondering if Kouji was getting as sick of the nickname as he was. "Get up. There was a battle, so you know what that means."

He placed Kouri down once more before standing up to succumb to the evolution. He could only hope it would work enough to fool the new Kaiser.

_The Kaiser…_ he thought as he calmly called an evolution to take place. _How is it that Kouji and I can be related through the disease our brothers share, and yet not be blood related in any way?_

The DigiCode walls broke down, revealing Osamu in the form of Wolfmon. Never before had he felt so strong, so powerful… But at the same time, he felt the same nagging helplessness from his role in the Mind Illusion. He supposed all the Chosen and Tamers went through that at least once, but it was a bitter feeling for a non-Chosen/Tamer.

"That took a little longer than usual," Kouichi observed. "Let me see the ring." Osamu stood completely still as Kouichi approached to inspect the Black Ring. "Malfunctioning. I'll have to repair it later. For today you can go without it, but don't expect this treatment all the time." Osamu nodded silently, all the while keeping his fists clenched tightly. He was afraid that if he spoke, he would do something worthy of Hikari's and Takeru's current dispositions. Kouichi already looked so much like Ken, and because of that, he was afraid of what he could do to this doppelganger. "Now get moving."

* * *

Ryo sat in his bedroom, uploading the new hardware into his computer. Jenrya had written to inform him that the older boy owed him a lot for having him sneak the unneeded equipment from Hypnos ops and mail it to him, and he knew it to be true. Finally, after two years of being cut off from Gennai and the Chosen, he had the ability to contact home. His parents would be able to keep in touch with the family and friends they'd left behind when ENIAC sent them to this world. He would be able to see his friends again and know how Ken was doing. ENIAC had given him little updates here and there before finally cutting off communication (sometime before the tournament in which Ryo beat Ruki), and the last it had told Ryo was that the new Chosen were fighting the Digimon Kaiser, Ken. He _had_ to know if his old world—and friend—was safe.

Finally, the webcam and dimensional interface system were installed. Rapidly, he set them up and hoped he could reach Gennai.

Wallace and Koushiro stepped into Gennai's study to see Daisuke facedown on the computer, asleep.

"What happened to him?" Wallace asked.

"He's been helping me try to contact Ryo," Gennai explained. "He's been working all night, and it completely wore him out."

Koushiro stared in shock. "He was here all _night_? His parents must be out of their minds!"

"He informed them he might need to be here the whole night."

"But still…"

"How far has he gotten?" Wallace interrupted.

"Not very, I'm afraid," Gennai admitted. "That program is still blocking us. Daisuke nearly had a nervous breakdown trying to get through."

"That's not like him," Wallace replied.

"His nerves are shot," a sleepy voice informed. Yawning, Taichi walked over to Wallace, Gennai, the sleeping Daisuke, and the now-calm Koushiro. His brown hair was once again in its haphazard style with the headband, but it was even more tangled from his rough sleep the previous night. "His entire team deserted him, choosing their own paths."

"I take it you stayed too," Koushiro guessed.

"Mm-hmm," Taichi answered with another yawn. "We were working on the connection last night. Best we can guess is that the program originated somewhere in Tokyo—Shibuya or Shinjuku or one of the surrounding towns." Stretching, he went over to Daisuke. A bag of Fox Leaf Arrowheads rested next to the boy, having served as his lamp that night. Involuntarily, Taichi winced and traced the scabs and scars left behind from the Renamon's assault; he would never be able to look at that type of Digimon or her attack the same way again. He owed his life to two people: Kouji Minamoto for getting him to the Trailmon, and Daisuke Motomiya for breaking Demon's attack.

Carefully, he pulled Daisuke out of his chair, half-carrying him to bed. "I still say it was a mistake for him to give up on the others," he commented.

"I know," mumbled the awakening Daisuke. "But there's nothing we can do about it now."

Taichi somewhat stared off into space, his mind in the past, when they had been a united team. It had only been a few months earlier, but the memory felt like it was an eternity away.

The sound of static interrupted his thoughts. All of the people in the room turned their attention to the computer, where the image of a brown-haired boy with cerulean eyes was fading in and out.

"Gennai, are you there?" he questioned.

"Holy crap, it's Ryo!" Taichi recognized. The picture continued to fade. "Koushiro, try and keep the signal! Ryo, it's Taichi!"

"Taichi?" His voice was both relieved and surprised. "Why is the signal so lousy?"

"Some program on your side," Daisuke informed. "It's keeping us out. By the way, I'm Daisuke, and this is Wallace. You already know the others."

"I'm losing the connection!" Koushiro cried.

"Ryo, we're going to try again," Gennai informed. "In the meantime, try to figure out what's blocking us."

"Wait!" he interrupted. "There are a few things I need to ask first!"

But before he had the chance, the connection terminated on both sides, fading the screens to black.

Meanwhile, Reika and Megumi were tracking in the war room at Hypnos' headquarters. Their employer, Mitsuo Yamaki, the creator of Hypnos, sat at underneath them as he flicked the lid of a Zippo cigarette lighter back and forth. The sound of metal clanking would have annoyed the women if they weren't so accustomed to it after years of his employ. It was just one of the things they had to suffer with.

"Situation contained," Reika informed. "Yuggoth and Shaggai terminated the interference."

"The data of the origin point is coming through, sir," Megumi added. "Location is…"

"Fukuoka, Kyushu," Reika read after a pause.

"Fukuoka?" Yamaki repeated. The memory returned of a young blue-haired boy asking for several odd pieces of equipment, causing him to smirk. "Contact Jiang-yu. I think he should be the one to talk to his son."

* * *

Alice McCoy sat in the research room at the Metropolitan Building, assisting her grandfather. Just as she had two years before, she wore a black vintage blouse and stiff crinoline skirt decorated with crosses. Her hair was still in pigtails with black ribbons, but now they were braided and looped up in a Germanic or Scandinavian style. She was still a sad and lonely soul, but the work she helped the Wild Bunch (her grandfather Prof. Rob "Dolphin" McCoy, Prof. Rai "Curly" Aishuwarya, Jiang-yu "Tao" Lee, Goro "Shibumi" Mizuno, and the anonymous Babel and Daisy) with was enough to distract her mourning.

The door burst open, and Jiang-yu Lee brought forward his younger son Jenrya. The boy was staring at the tile in shame and remained silent while his father fought the fury in his voice. It was enough to distract everyone's attention.

"Jiang-yu, what's wrong?" asked Alice's grandfather.

"Remember the equipment Jianliang kept asking for?" The other Wild Bunch members nodded while Alice resumed her work. "Apparently, he has been sending it to Ryo to construct an inter-dimensional communication channel."

"Jenrya, you know that could cause more emergences," Shibumi stated.

"I know, Mr. Mizuno, but I had to. You know how Ryo and his family originally came from another world? He had to figure out a way to contact it, so I helped him."

"Then why didn't you just tell us to begin with?" Jiang-yu questioned, frustrated.

"I'm sorry, Dad, but I…" Jenrya went silent. He had never meant to betray his father's trust, but he knew his request would have been denied if he'd asked.

"Shaggai and Yuggoth have been malfunctioning lately, and it's because of your experiment," Jiang-yu continued. "If anything was to break through at that point…"

"Excuse me, Mr. Lee," Alice interrupted, "but if Shaggai and Yuggoth could be modified to allow transmission signals through, I don't think a problem would be caused." Suddenly, everyone's attention was on her, but it didn't unnerve her in the least. "It would be fairly simple for Mr. Yamaki to figure it out; after all, he's the one who designed them. And if anything _did _break through, the Shaggai system could be initiated while Yuggoth restrains the target."

"It makes sense," Daisy admitted. "And none of the children or Digimon would be harmed by it."

"The Four Holy Beasts could also prevent any escapes in the Digital World," Shibumi theorized.

"But how would we know that this solution would not summon another such enemy as the D-Reaper?" Curly asked.

"Yuggoth and Shaggai would neutralize it before it penetrates," Alice explained. "And if it was too big a threat already, the Four Holy Beasts would have contacted the Tamers beforehand."

"I love the way your granddaughter thinks," Babel commented to Prof. McCoy. "My kid would have given up long ago."

"So, Mr. Lee, will you consider my idea?" Alice questioned.

"It's too logical to ignore," he admitted with a sigh. "I'll go tell Yamaki."

As he walked out to inform the section head, the Wild Bunch continued their praise of Alice. Jenrya flashed her a smile of thanks, and she returned it with a tiny one of her own, cleverly disguised as modest satisfaction on her praise.

* * *

Osamu—still in Kouji's borrowed form—sat in the tub, staring at nothing in particular. In the course of the day, he'd managed to avoid getting on Kouichi's bad side, but still he had been placed in the torture rack. Luckily, the worst he'd suffered was a bloody nose (which was still bleeding), but the dull ache caused by it was an unwelcome reminder of what life meant.

He submerged under the water in an attempt to collect his thoughts. He needed to contact someone, but whom? Who could possibly help him find out Kouichi's next move? The Chosen here?

_No, _he rejected. _I'm not allowed to interfere with their sacrifices. _Ken? The thought was promising, but…

_No,_ he answered mentally._ Right away, no. I have no right to put him through any more pain. _

_"Hikari?" _Qinglongmon suggested.

_Absolutely not. She'd do everything I've been told not to—and the same goes for Takeru._

"_Daisuke?"_

_He's trying to avoid this matter as much as possible right now. Besides, he's busy helping Gennai contact Ryo. _

_"Miyako?"_

_No, she's too excitable. _

_"Iori?"_

_He would have been the best due to his calm nature and desire to help others, but now it's impossible for him. _Unintentionally, he grunted in frustration. _Then who else is there?_

Before he had his answer, Kousei Minamoto pulled him out of the water, an expression of pure fear etched on his weathered face. Osamu realized that he had been under so long that he'd worried Kouji's family. It was perfectly all right to be underwater for such a long period of time for someone who didn't need to breathe, but he was playing the part of Kouji, a normal human who happened to be able to evolve into Digimon forms.

"Kouji, what were you doing?" he demanded.

"Sorry, Dad," Osamu apologized, the words sounding strange as he spoke them. "I guess I've learned to hold my breath too long." It was a lame excuse, he knew, but it was the best he could come up with. Improvisation was never one of his strong points.

"It's all right," he assured, "but don't do that again. We've lost you once; we could never bear it if we were to lose you again."

Guilt welled up in Osamu, clogging his throat with a hard lump, and he forced himself not to show tears. The comment held a double meaning for him: the sacrifice Kouji would have to make, and the words his own family would say if this situation was placed in the Ichijoujis' hands. He nodded sadly and changed into his disguised clothes. For a moment, he began to despise what he'd done. He knew the importance of one person, but he hated having to play another part—just as he had when he was alive.

"I'm not hungry tonight," he informed.

"Are you okay?" Tomoko Kimura asked.

"Yeah. I just have a cough right now, and my nose is bleeding still." He wadded up some toilet paper and held it in front of his face as he faked a few hard coughs.

"Do you need to lie down?" Satomi Minamoto questioned.

"Yeah. I just need a little sleep."

He wandered over to the area he'd hidden Kouji and lay in the same position. To satisfy the requirements of the condition he was pretending to have, he coughed a few more times before finally seeming to fall asleep. Once that was done, he managed to reveal Kouji's body and revert to his invisible and intangible form. The toilet paper fell to the floor without a single person noticing.

_All right, _he thought. _I think Kouji will be fine from here. The Light Seed should let me know if he's not. Now to see about getting some help…_

* * *

Takamoto knew he was breaking about a hundred rules Kae had created and Kage had enforced, but the most recent events had forced him to take desperate measures. At midnight between April 14 and 15, he stole a knapsack containing a flashlight, can of knockout gas, hammer, and laser pistol, and slipped away home.

_No Imperials, _he observed as he stealthily made his way toward his parents' home. It was making him nervous. No visible guards could spell an ambush. Therefore, his fears were eased a bit when he observed two members of the Imperial Guard lurking near his street. The situation was likely to be a trap.

Carefully, he removed what appeared to be a can of soda from his bag. Holding his breath, he opened it to release the powerful substance. The fumes of the gas attempted to enter his body through his nostrils, but he threw it in the direction of the Imperials before that could happen. Seconds before hearing the clank of the aluminum hitting the street, the gas took affect. He then covered his face as he ran to his old house.

His parents were asleep when he arrived, so he was able to discreetly enter his room through the window. Knowing his reputation at school, he figured the Imperials would have torn apart his room in an attempt to tie his disappearance to the Resistance.

_Fortunately, they didn't find it,_ he thought, breathing a sigh of relief. Using the back of the hammer, he pried up a nail from a floorboard and retrieved his most precious possession of all:

The biological and genetic formula for his bacterium.

_It'll have to be stronger, _he theorized, _but I can work on it at the settlement hospital. So long as Yamamoto, Iwahara, and Akagami don't suspect anything, I'll be all right._

He placed the vital papers into his knapsack and slipped out, wandering around Tokyo for an hour in order to throw any Imperials off his scent. Fortune shone on him when he arrived at the Railroad: No one was up, so no questions would be asked. Kage's weapon was taking far too long to build; he'd have to develop a weapon himself.

But _no one _could ever find out about it.

* * *

After slamming his head against the wall for ten minutes, desperately trying to reconnect for twenty-four hours, and receiving a phone call about the new functions of the Yuggoth/Shaggai program, Ryo finally connected to Gennai's computer to see Taichi, Koushiro, the new faces of Wallace and Daisuke, and an unfamiliar man in his thirties that had to be Gennai.

"Gennai?" he exclaimed. "What happened? The last time I saw you, I called you '_jiisan_'!"

"That's not important right now," he answered. "Have there been any strange disturbances in your world?"

His face looked puzzled. "No. Nothing aside from the ordinary emergences."

There was a sigh of relief from everyone before Gennai continued. "We haven't gotten any updates from ENIAC since October of 2001. It said you were fighting something terrible in Shinjuku."

"Yeah. That was the D-Reaper—a computer program turned red mass of antimatter. It was all over the world, and the Digital World, feeding off our friend Juri Katou, who was in a deep depression after her partner, Leomon, was killed."

"You have Chosen there?" Taichi asked in shock. He hadn't heard of any other Chosen since Takuya and his team.

"We're not really Chosen, but Tamers," he explained. "My partner—my real one—is Cyberdramon, the end result of Monodramon and Millenniumon's jogress." At the sight of Taichi's, Koushiro's, and Gennai's startled faces, he added, "Don't worry. Only our enemies are threatened by him."

"How many of these Tamers are there?" Koushiro questioned.

Ryo's eyes gazed toward the ceiling as he tried to count. "I'm not sure. There's Takato Matsuda and Guilmon, Ruki Makino and Renamon—" Taichi winced at the Digimon's name—"Jenrya Lee and Terriermon, his sister Shiuchon and Lopmon, Hirokazu Shiota and Guardromon, Kenta Kitagawa and MarineAngemon, Juri Katou and Culumon—he's not really her partner, but he might as well be—and Ai and Makoto Shimamura and their partner Impmon." He laughed. "Pretty much as many Tamers as there are Chosen." Right away, everyone on the other side began to look uncomfortable. "Has Ken gone back to normal yet?"

"Yeah," Daisuke replied. "The Kaiser's gone."

"Which brings us to another problem," Wallace put in. "He's entered another world, but not yours. He's making life hell for a kid there named Kouji Minamoto."

"Plus he's enslaved both worlds and killed a friend of their Chosen," Koushiro added. "None of them has the heart to fight him."

"I'd promise the Tamers' help," Ryo admitted, "but I already pushed our government connections to the limit."

"Taichi, Sora, and Yamato tried to help find more information about the new Kaiser but at great risk to their lives," Gennai explained. "Taichi survived only with the help of the Minamoto boy we told you about."

"Well, why not have all the Chosen come together and fight the Kaiser?" Ryo suggested. "I know Ken would kill to help—especially if he was the last Kaiser."

"Shows how well you know him," Wallace muttered.

"Come again?" Ryo asked in confusion.

Taichi sighed. It was the moment he'd been dreading since he and Daisuke had agreed to help Gennai, Koushiro, and Wallace.

"Ryo, I hate telling you this, but there aren't any Chosen anymore," he informed. The older boy's face was full of shock. "There was a huge fight… Iori's gone insane, Hikari's forsaken her friends in order to become an antisocial maniac, Takeru's not far behind, Miyako is bitter to everyone, and God only knows how Ken is—he's cut off all contact with us. The rest of us couldn't take it any longer." Taichi stopped, seeing Ryo's face. His eyes were wide, and his mouth was agape. He placed his hands over his face for a moment before sliding them down and tracing invisible lines across his face with his fingers. He appeared to be ready to vomit. "Are you okay?"

Fortunately for Ryo, the phone rang. "Can I get back to you on that?"

Somberly and still in shock from the news, he walked to the phone in his parents' room and answered it. "Hello?"

"Ryo, did you get through?" It was Ruki. He recognized her by the voice and the way she didn't state her name. She filled in the same role Ken had long ago: a sort-of younger sibling, only she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, and the two joked around a lot more than he and Ken used to. But wry humor wasn't something he'd really been concerned about when they were facing down Millenniumon. And the more he thought about it, the more he realized that he really wasn't a replacement for Osamu during that time, and he wasn't now. He was no older brother, barely even a close friend. He couldn't be if he didn't realize a long time ago that all of this would have happened. And could it happen again with his new partners, the Tamers?—

"Ryo?" she asked again. "Did you get through?"

—He wasn't sure he wanted to answer that question.

"Yeah." His voice was flat.

"That doesn't sound good."

"Sorry, Ruki, I'm going to call you back. I just got some bad news."

"All right."

Without saying goodbye, he hung up on her and smashed his fist through the window. Blood and broken glass bits fell to the floor, but he couldn't feel the pain of his mutilated right hand—which would soon match his arm. The one establishment he'd believed in more than the Tamers was now gone. What was there left to believe in? How could he feel any worse pain?

* * *

Ken reviewed his own personal bio from Gennai's database, as well as the file on the Dark Seed, quickly taking notes on anything and everything he thought could be vital about the Kaiser. As he worked on the third page of notes, however, his mother knocked on his bedroom door.

"Ken? Noriko, Takashi, Keiko, and Hiroshi want to see you."

He removed his gold-framed reading glasses from his face and allowed his vision to adjust before exiting his room. It was strange just how much he was reminiscent of his brother, even without the guise of the Digimon Kaiser. He wore glasses for reading and writing, finding his vision to be opposite Osamu's nearsightedness. His voice was very close to his older brother's, and his facial features were also similar. So alike were they that Ken feared to wonder the Kaiser's actions had Osamu been alive to fight him.

Standing outside the door were four children: an eleven-year-old with short dark brown hair and dressed in a white shirt with pink overalls, a twelve-year-old girl with long light brown hair wearing a pale blue dress, a ten-year-old light brown-haired boy in a baseball uniform, and a tall thirteen-year-old black-haired boy dressed in black jeans and a colorful shirt.

"Hey, guys," Ken greeted. "Sorry I can't talk right now, but I'm kind of busy."

"With what?" young Takashi questioned.

"Just stuff from Gennai's archive. Nothing too important."

"It must be," Noriko judged, "if you've been alienating yourself to do it."

"We brought you something," Keiko informed, handing over a box of strawberry pocky. Ken's eyes grew wide with surprise.

"But…how did you know?" he asked. "Not even my parents knew…"

"We were sworn to secrecy," Takashi explained.

"We've got to go now," Hiroshi added, clamping his hand over the younger boy's mouth. "See you soon!"

Ken stared after the new Chosen Children in total shock. He hadn't eaten this since his brother died. How could anyone have found out about the snack he and Osamu secretly saved their allowance solely to buy?

The four children found their Baby I level Digimon happily munching on the chocolate variety of the cookie sticks.

"Punimon, you'll rot your teeth!" Noriko scolded.

"Don't get sick on that, Poyomon," Takashi warned.

"That's enough for you, Nyokimon," Hiroshi decided.

"No, Yukimibotamon," Keiko addressed, taking her partner away from the sweets, "Mom has a big dinner planned."

"_Gomen_," apologized an eleven or twelve-year-old boy with dark, roughly cut hair concealed by a red-striped blue bandana. Judging by the tears and bloodstains in his blue fleece jacket, yellow T-shirt, and gray athletic pants, he had been in a terrible fight; but the calm, yet anxious, expression in his dark blue eyes argued otherwise. "I didn't expect them to eat so much of it."

Keiko sighed and looked at him. "It's not your fault. The Digimon are just like bottomless pits."

"Did you find anything out?" he questioned.

"No," Hiroshi replied. "But he did ask how you knew his favorite treat."

"And?"

"We told him nothing," Noriko assured.

He nodded. "Thank you for your help. I'm just sorry I troubled you in vain." Calmly, he took his exit, rubbing a sore spot on his left wrist. It meant nothing, except that Gennai and Qinglongmon requested a conference with him.

_Hopefully, this will lead me to an answer, _Osamu thought. His brother would not be of any help to him—this much he'd known already. But now his search was even more desperate as the looming feeling bore down on him that Kouichi Kimura was up to something.

_Jiisan: Grandfather_

_Gomen: I'm sorry_

**The shocked look on Ryo's face was one Jarod had in the _Pretender _episode "Crash," when he learned that the plane he was supposed to be on had crashed on its way to San Diego. Basically, that's the only reference. And for the last chapter, something I only just thought of on 1/12/04 after watching _Zoids Guardian Force:_ "The Distant Stars," Taiyou's character is based almost entirely off of Raven. Just watch that episode of _Zoids_ if you don't believe me.**


	7. Lullaby For Rebirth

_"Auguries of destruction be a lullaby for rebirth."  
__See-Saw/Emily Bindiger—"Key of the Twilight": .hack/SIGN_

Echoes of Angels Who Won't Return  
Chapter Five, May: "Lullaby for Rebirth"

Kouji Minamoto sat all alone in the darkness of Cell 24. Technically, he was not alone; his parents, stepmother, and half-sister slept peacefully on the floor, and an invisible spirit kept watch on him, though he didn't know of this spirit. And he had the two Spirits of Light, even if Kouichi was the one in control of them at the moment. And he had his memories of his friends, even though he would never be able to see them again. Still, they were there despite everything, never having once abandoned him. But in the cold, damp darkness that could not segregate night from day, he felt alone, and more so than he had in over a year.

He'd been dreaming about them again—the other Chosen Children. He silently called out to them in his sleep, unable to reach them. It was like lying on the grass on a warm summer day, reaching out to catch a passing cloud, only to realize that they were too far. Though he couldn't feel them, he could see them so vividly in his dreams each night. Rarely did he have the same dream twice: One time he could be reliving their picnic the previous May, and in another he could be desperately running down the stairs at Shibuya as they searched for Kouichi. He had one dream for each of their personal encounters, and many more for their adventures as a team. Quite often though, his thoughts turned to Izumi, but not in a romantic way. He was merely concerned for her state of mind, considering the events that had led to his "death" on the beach. With each injury he sustained, he wondered about her personal pain. Did she blame herself for turning to his aid when Kouichi appeared to be suicidal? How did she cope with knowing it was her lover that attempted to murder him? More than anything, he wanted to escape and see them all again, to show them he was alive.

But he couldn't very well do that in _this_ state.

Along with the usual wounds and the savage scars, he'd managed to humiliate himself in front of Kouichi, Reiyama, and Renamon.

During the daily crucifix beatings, Kouji had lost control of his bodily functions, invoking laughter from his three tormentors. The electrical shocks from the whip had never caused him to wet himself before, so he was more than just undignified by the action. His face burned puce—not merely red—as he wished he could just die on that wall—anything to avoid the sound of their hysterics. They had released him and continued laughing on their way out while his head burned with the embarrassment he would not—and could not—allow his tears to show. Somehow that night, he'd kept his emotions under control, but he _had_ considered drowning himself in the bathtub. The thought appealed to him, but the glitter faded when he remembered his unspoken promise to protect his family. The knowledge of what would happen to them kept him sane. Besides, dying inside Cell 24 would be a shameful waste. He would prefer it if his death was a bit more dignified and didn't involve such a dungeon.

His pants were still drying over a few burning candles; his underwear had dried beforehand, so he wore it with a towel wrapped around his waist. All of his clothes had been washed after the incident so he would feel less disgrace. In the midst of his humiliation, he'd managed to sleep that night, but one of those dreams woke him up. It was not an unpleasant dream—far from it. It was one of those memories he cherished, but also one of the warning signs he wished he'd caught.

It was a lazy day in August, and the Chosen lay on their backs on the soft grass at the park, listening to the sounds of kids playing nearby, trying to figure out exactly when it was they had stopped being just like those others, who never worried about the fate of two worlds. It wasn't their initial trip to the Digital World—they had still acted as children (or something akin to it in the cases of the rather mature Kouji and Kouichi) then. The musings soon became a debate over when they had grown or when they would if they weren't so sure they had changed yet. Every so often, they would have to chase after a child's ball or Frisbee, but there was nothing more than that. As brightly colored kites soared through the sky, looking like they could cut through the clouds, the children soon found themselves imagining their futures as they did at least once each time they met.

"Will we still all be friends?" Tomoki had asked.

"Of course," Takuya stated. "A friendship like this is made to last a lifetime, no matter who decides to avoid society; isn't that right, Kouji?" He kicked his friend good-naturedly, causing the others to laugh about the former Warrior of Light's reputation as a loner.

"Any ideas about what we'll be doing?" he questioned. "And will the Digital World need us again?"

"It might," Kouichi decided. "And for our jobs, I think it's obvious you'll be a singer with the way you're always playing music." A grin soon spread across his face. "Either that, or a high school band teacher."

"Not on your life!" Kouji defended. "I foresee you teaching some kind of dance class—and falling on your face in the process." This caused everyone to laugh harder, knowing Kouichi sometimes had problems with his coordination.

"And what about our deaths?" Kouichi asked, making the others sit up in surprise. It was not the first time he'd mentioned death, but the memory of his situation in April made the subject all the more uncomforting. "Any predictions on how we'll leave this world?"

"I don't know," Izumi admitted, lying back down to gaze at the clouds. "But I think we'd all go in a peaceful world that we helped build."

"Not Takuya," Kouji challenged.

"What are you talking about?" their leader demanded.

"You know you'd just keep fighting till the end," Junpei determined. "I'd say you'd have a lifespan of two seconds."

It was at that point that Kouji woke up. True, on that day, they had all laughed and made a game out of trying to think of Takuya's murderer, but _he'd_ been the one to face Takuya's fate in the end. And mysteriously, it hadn't killed him when it should have.

He was soon aware of Renamon's presence in the room once she phased into existence in front of him. He showed no sign of acknowledging her presence and continued to venture deep into his thoughts.

"Six o'clock," she informed. "You know what that means." Kouji ignored her and kept delving into his memories. "The Kaiser is away this morning. He expects you to evolve yourself." He remained unresponsive. "Get up, unless you want another accident like yesterday."

He suddenly looked up at her, hatred and anger burning in his cold blue eyes. For once, his eyes matched Kouichi's exactly, and it was rather unnerving for Renamon.

"Let me get dressed," he ordered.

Unsettled by the emotions in the harrowed boy's eyes, she teleported and remained out of the cell long enough to let him finish getting dressed. How could the two boys look so much alike at this one point of time when it was always so easy to tell them apart? How could they have been brothers if they were on opposite ends of the spectrum? One was social; one preferred his own company. One knew all the answers; one always asked questions. One was a powerful Kaiser; one was a halfling slave. One was Darkness; one was Light. It had always been this way, and always would be.

She returned to see him glaring at her with his cold eyes. She thought to hit him, she _should have_, but he looked so much like her master at that moment that it was impossible. He quickly evolved to Garmmon's form, and his now golden eyes held the same hate. But now, he was not the same person she'd seen before.

"Get moving," she commanded, kicking his side. He would not be allowed to cross her again.

_-------  
He's angry,_ Hikari thought as she sat at her desk at six in the morning, drawing. _I don't blame him. I'd be angry too._ The sketch was of the Digimon she had just seen in her vision, one that Yamato and Sora had also described—Garmmon. On a separate page was a drawing of Wolfmon, his eyes seeming to demand justice. Sighing, she placed her now finished sketch aside and flipped through the minute medical information Taichi, Sora, and Yamato had filled in from their brief encounter with him. There was nothing she could do.

She got dressed, opting to wear an emerald-colored blouse with jeans. Atop her head went a black leather chauffeur's cap, which seemed to change her appearance to match her current mood. On her belt was her pink D-3, the embodiment of the weak, sensitive girl she used to be. There was no way to change it, so she chose to ignore it.

"Nice choice of clothes," commented a voice that sounded like Ken's. Hikari's face grew hot with anger and embarrassment as she spun around, wielding a sharp pair of scissors.

"Choosing your old Kaiser guise, Ichijouji?" she asked, pressing the point against his chest. "And who said you could watch me dress?"

"I didn't watch you," he answered. "Though I could if I wanted to, which I don't. And if you want to stab me, go right ahead. I believe it would be the first time anyone attempted assault and battery with a pair of scissors."

She pulled them away. "I don't get you, Ken. What makes you think you can just walk in here in the early hours of the morning, asking for my help." He stared at her calmly, though not questioning. "That _is _what you want, isn't it?"

"Yes," he replied. "Though you're wrong about my identity. Who's the one person, other than Ken Ichijouji, that would have such unkempt hair and wear gold-framed glasses?"

Normally, one would engage in a pointless ten-minute battle of denial over his existence; however, Hikari did not. She simply sat down in her chair and demanded in a matter-of-fact tone, "All right, Osamu, what do you want?"

"It's more of what _you_ want." She lifted an eyebrow in surprise. "I know your brother and two of his friends went to the other world to learn more about the new Kaiser, and you asked them to find information on Kouji Minamoto."

"Tell me something I don't know, Ichijouji."

He smiled at the challenge. The grin was not Ken's self-assured little smirk from his Kaiser days, but his own sincere smile he had worn when the photo Ken kept was taken.

"Ever wonder why Kouichi puts Kouji through such hell?" She stared back in confusion. "You've seen his cell in your nightmares; you've felt his fear. You know his pain, his suffering, his sorrow—you even know the humiliation he went through last night. Why is he put through that? Why does he feel those emotions?" When she didn't even venture a guess, he sang part of the mysterious song.He sang it perfectly, using Kouji's exact tone of voice. Hikari's eyes widened in shock. That was impossible, wasn't it? "Ever wonder why he mourns the word 'brother'? It's simple—because Kouichi Kimura, the Digimon Kaiser, is his brother."

"_Ichi_…_ji_…" she murmured.

"One and two. They're twins, so their father named them that way. Personally, I'm not too big a fan of giving twins similar names, but I guess anything beats being 'Reign First Temple' when your brother was the Digimon Kaiser. The reason why their surnames are different is because their parents are divorced, just like two friends of yours—Takeru Takaishi and Yamato Ishida, I believe their names are?"

"Just what do you want, Ichijouji?" Her voice sounded oddly more venomous.

He approached closer, bringing his face right in front of hers. "The same thing you want: the chance to help Kouji Minamoto and stop his madman brother." In a lower, more pleading voice, he added, "Please. I know somewhere in there, underneath that hardened exterior, is the little girl who hated seeing people get hurt. For her sake, and Kouji's, help me."

"What is it you need?" she questioned as though not convinced.

He sighed. "I need that little girl to find her way into the Kaiser's database. You won't need to hack—two people are already set to do that. We just need to find his plans of action."

"How do you know he'd keep them around?"

"I know how he thinks; I'd know my own brother's actions. He would never jump into a situation without a well-thought plan of attack. Kouichi would do the same. My guess is he has the battle plans for the last confrontation with the Resistance. He probably knows their bases. If they lose, Kouji does too."

"And if you know exactly how your brother would act, why don't _you_ do it?"

"I'm not allowed to! Qinglongmon and Gennai have strictly forbidden me…"

"Then get your brother!"

"I already tried! He's working on his own battle strategy! You're the only one who knows the layout of the base…"

"How about Daisuke? Or Takeru, Miyako, or Iori?"

"Takeru would kill both Kouji and Kouichi the first chance he gets. Miyako could care less, and Daisuke has enough problems on his plate!" Their voices were so close to shouts that it was a wonder the entire apartment building wasn't awake. Osamu lowered his voice to a calm level before continuing. "And I would have asked Iori, except he's in the hospital, and I don't think he'd be able to complete a mission while he's on the brink of insanity. Please, Yagami, help me save Kouji. We may be the last hope he has."

She growled and placed her hand against her forehead, running it through the hair underneath her cap. "Just get my brother's digivice so I can upload the key program into mine."

Grinning, he produced the turquoise-colored device and a few wires. "Already have it, as well as the wires Koushiro used to copy the system into all of them." He noticed her reach for her D-3. "May I? Besides, you'll want to leave a note for your family and Tailmon. Just say you decided to help."

She sneered again as he handed her a pen and got to work transferring the program from one digivice to the other. But somehow, she found herself asking, "So what are you in this for? Is it because you couldn't save your brother?"

"Far from it. I don't consider Kouji and Ken to be alike any more than I would compare you and…oh, Izumi Orimoto."

"Excuse me?"

"You'll see," he promised, searching her drawers until he'd found a purple-and-pink tie-dyed, spaghetti strap top and denim shorts. "Here. Spare clothes. Never know when you'll need them."

"Osamu, I could kill you."

"Wouldn't help. I'm already dead. You have one day to find this. Now you'd better get going before you miss your contacts." He suddenly vanished, and she felt a deep, burning hatred inside her. This would be the last time she'd let an Ichijouji push her around.

* * *

Alice savored her last minutes in her home world by relaxing to the music of her _.hack/SIGN _OST 1 CD. Knowing her mission and charge, she'd fittingly switched to track fourteen: "A Stray Child."

_I wonder if he ever _does_ doubt himself,_ she found herself thinking as the music in her headphones continued.

"Alice?" Jenrya checked, walking in. She removed her headphones and looked at him. He was dressed in his normal black T-shirt and a pair of khakis. "It's time to go."

She nodded and stood up, dressed in a tank top and cargo pants—all black, of course. Her hair was in a simple ponytail atop her head, much like Ruki's, but less spiky.

Both walked out, receiving goodbyes from their friends and families. Shiuchon cried as she hugged Jenrya while Alice said a tearful goodbye to her grandfather.

"Be careful out there," he warned. "You're all I have left. After your dad and mom died…"

"I know," she choked in between tears. Her parents had died in a plane crash when she was nine or ten, before the D-Reaper. Her grandfather had been raising her ever since. They were a support system to each other, lifting up the other when he or she was down.

"Jianliang," Jiang-yu addressed as his son hugged Jaarin goodbye. Jenrya broke the embrace and hugged his father. "Don't get hurt."

"I won't, Dad." He respectfully pulled away to bid farewell to Ryo, who looked as calm as possible under the circumstances.

"I'd be there too if I could…" he began, but Jenrya stopped him short.

"The Kaiser would recognize you too easily because of Ken's memories. It's better that Alice and I go alone. He never met us." He forced a smile. "Besides, you're grounded after breaking that window." He held out his hand, and the two acquaintances shook hands like they were long-time friends. Jenrya was careful not to squeeze too tightly because Ryo's hand was still bandaged from the window incident.

"See you, Lee."

Shibumi handed Jenrya a Blue Card. "Koushiro's algorithm for the dimensional key is on this. Slash it to upload."

Jenrya nodded and took the card. But before he brought it to his D-arc, he turned to Terriermon. "Take care of everyone while we're gone."

"_Moumantai_, Jen! You know I will."

Jenrya held the Blue Card and, in quick movements, scanned it through his digivice. "Card Slash!" The key's algorithms transferred to the D-arc as Jenrya held it out to open a portal. Alice held to his shoulder and squinted as he placed on a pair of green-tinted sunglasses and they both walked through a column of light.

There was the sound of squawking and the fluttering wings of seabirds as the portal opened to a Yokohama beach. A girl in a black cap stood with her back facing them, jotting down notes onto a yellow legal pad.

"You could have been a little louder," she commented coldly. "I think there are some Imperials that didn't hear you."

Alice looked at Jenrya before asking, "What are you doing here?"

"Finishing up what my brother, Yamato, and Sora couldn't."

Jenrya's silver eyes widened in surprise. "_You're_ Hikari Yagami?" She turned, not answering. "I'm Jenrya Lee, and this is Alice McCoy." Hikari merely stared at them as if she didn't comprehend.

"I didn't think the Chosen would come," Alice confessed.

"They didn't," Hikari replied. "I came alone." She continued writing her notes.

"What are those?" Jenrya questioned.

"The Imperial Guard and the Resistance are nearing this area," she explained. "According to my sources, it was the idea of Mt. Fuji Resistance commander Kage Tenshi, current leader of the Chosen Children of this world."

"But he's not a Chosen Child, am I right?" Alice guessed.

"Not according to what Taichi, Sora, and Yamato have obtained," Hikari answered.

"What else has this informant of yours told you?" Jenrya asked.

"Only that this beach, this same stretch of sand, is where Kouichi killed his brother and began the war we see today."

Alice stepped forward and sifted through the sand. It was all too strange, too macabre, that they stood on the grave of a boy only their age. Her voice was soft when she spoke next: "So where to from here?"

Hikari debated whether or not to head for the base. It was vital that she entered and found out Kouichi's plans—and, perhaps, rescued Kouji in the process. But it was more vital to find more information before charging into battle—she'd learned that much watching her brother's mistakes. There was plenty of time left in the day to find those plans, and less time to find information on the Chosen and Kouji.

"We head for Mt. Fuji," she decided.

* * *

Miyagami stood in the lobby of the hospital in confusion. He could have sworn he saw Takamoto head in there. Because the hospital was in the midst of an Imperial town, the Resistance rarely entered it unless there was dire need for Dr. Yamamoto or his colleagues. Now both young men had placed their unit in danger.

"Chideta, is something wrong?" Dr. Yamamoto questioned. He and his two trustworthy colleagues, Akagami and Iwahara, walked up to him.

"I saw Reiji walk in here, so I thought he might have been hurt or something," Miyagami answered.

"He's in the lab, working on some project of his," Akagami informed.

"Akagami, I do have a question about these figures," Iwahara called as Miyagami headed toward the lab. Instead of heading toward his friend's location, he eavesdropped on the conversation. "Apparently, you placed in an order for a large quantity of penicillin. And the pharmacy nearby has also stocked up on amoxycillin and related drugs."

"Several patients have come in with bacterial infection," Akagami explained. "I assumed it was going around."

"I never saw any of these patients," Yamamoto challenged.

"Must have only been on my watch," Akagami replied.

Having heard enough of the odd conversation, Miyagami entered the lab to see Takamoto carefully pouring liquid into hollow bullets. All but one of the bullets were placed into a gun—a regular, run-of-the-mill gun—he wore in a holster on his belt.

He changed his latex gloves and took a clean scalpel to an artery in his left arm. Blood poured forth, landing into a small beaker. Once he had a sufficient amount of blood, he tightly taped cotton to his wound, being sure to cut off the bleeding. After having done that, he changed his gloves again and dropped the lone bullet into the beaker. The metal disintegrated, releasing the liquid. Takamoto then took some of the blood sample and placed it in a petri dish to inspect under a microscope. With a dropper, he placed penicillin into the dish, observing the changes immediately.

"Perfect," he whispered.

"Reiji, what the hell are you doing?" Miyagami demanded.

* * *

Hikari sat in a room in the Mt. Fuji Resistance Settlement, trying to put together her notes. Jenrya and Alice were out, trying to get information from the Chosen. But as she tried to make sense of all she had gathered, Osamu appeared in the room. She jumped about ten feet out of her chair.

"Don't do that!" she ordered.

"Sorry," he apologized, though he didn't sound it. "Trying to piece it together?"

"Thanks for stating the obvious." She sighed as she looked through it all. "Can't you tell me anymore?"

"All I'm allowed to say is that he's in Cell 24, and you already know what that looks like." She groaned and looked back at her notes.

"You've got to be the most useless informant I've ever seen," she muttered.

"I'm sorry," he apologized sincerely. "But just because I'm not allowed to say some things doesn't mean I have all the answers. There's still Kouichi to take into consideration. He operates on a slightly different level than my brother did. He didn't have time to get a Dark Seed and become a genius, so he has to improvise a lot. The problem is things are working very well for someone who's making it up as he goes."

Hikari put aside her notepads and connected her scarlet eyes to his indigo. "So you're saying that he might not have any plans at all? That he's improvising everything?"

Osamu sighed. "I hope that's not what I mean."

There was a knock at the door and he disappeared. Groaning again, Hikari went up to answer it. Alice and Jenrya were standing outside, toting Styrofoam cups of coffee.

"If you imagine hard enough, it tastes like real coffee," Jenrya commented.

"I've never had real coffee before."

"Then I hope this doesn't scare you away from it," Alice replied. They sat down at the table with her and placed their notepads down.

"I'm surprised you got any info from the Chosen," Hikari commented. "_Onii-chan_ said they were devastated by their friend's death."

"We didn't get a whole lot," Alice answered. "What did you figure out?"

Hikari sighed and took a sip of her drink. Finding it too bitter, she dumped in a packet of sweetener. "I don't know how the settlers can drink this stuff."

"Well?" Jenrya pressed.

"Not a whole lot. I know that Ken had a bridge, a control room, somewhere, but I don't know where it would be. I'm sure that if Kouichi has the same setup, he'll have his files there, but I don't know where."

Alice sipped her coffee thoughtfully. "What if you could get inside somehow and track it down with the D-3 or D-arc? Jen and I are related to hackers, so we could figure out how to bypass the computer's security."

For once since the beginning of this new war, Hikari appeared to be impressed. Her face softened and took on an expression of surprise. "Really? How much do you know?"

"She probably knows more than I do," Jenrya admitted. "Her grandfather taught my father, and they in turn taught us."

"How hard would it be for you two to hack into Kouichi's system?"

"It depends on what kind of security he's put into place," Alice explained. "If he's smart, he'll have a harder system, but Ken's never faced a hacker before, has he?"

"No," Hikari replied with some contempt. "He made it so Koushiro would be useless in battle, so we never thought of hacking into his database."

"Which is why I think Kouichi will be too overconfident to put into effect such an advanced security system," Alice continued. "It won't take much to get in."

"How long before you can initiate your plan?" Hikari asked. Alice smiled.

"When's the next battle?"

* * *

Kage continued to pour over the information for the new weapon while he fused together several pieces of circuitry.

_Not easy,_ he thought, _but at least Himi will have something to work with._ He glanced at the completed weapons. _Too bad his is taking the longest. But I have to get these plug-ins uploaded or it won't be of much use to him or Gabumon._

A twelve-year-old girl with platinum blond hair walked up to him, delivering a package wrapped in brown paper. "More clothes from the settlement."

"Set them down right there," he instructed, using his soldering iron to point to a clear corner in the tunnel. "What type?"

"Huh?"

"Of clothes?"

"Petite woman's—small juniors, I suppose. Tie-dyed tank top and denim shorts."

"Well, no one fits that size except maybe Izumi, and she doesn't want to change, so we may have to save it for any escaped slaves, if we get any. Fewer are coming now. I don't know what it's supposed to mean."

"Neither do I." Her response wasn't a lie. She didn't know what it was supposed to mean either, but she had a sickening suspicion that it had to do with the plans Hikari kept talking about.

"Thank you though."

As Alice walked away, she removed Hikari's digivice from her pocket and pressed a button to activate the sensors of every digivice in the area, including Jenrya's.

"That's the signal," he observed as he stood on the beach with Hikari.

"Are you sure this will work?" she checked.

"Takato, Ruki, Ryo, and I are all at least partially data," he explained. "That's how we were able to use the Red Card, even if it was for a short time." He laughed. "I guess you could say we're halflings ourselves."

Hikari stared back at him as if he was the craziest person alive. It was the only time she'd heard someone use that term as a compliment. "I hope insanity isn't contagious."

He laughed again before taking the infamous Red Card out of his pocket and swiping it through his D-arc. "Card Slash!"

The power from the card lit up the sky, temporarily altering the data that was intermingled with Jenrya's DNA. The flash was visible all across the Tokyo area, including near the Chosen's camp.

"What is that?" Junpei questioned.

Takuya grimaced. "I don't know, but I'm getting Kage. If we attack, we do it under his orders."

They all darted past the retreating Alice before finding Kage ready to exit the Railroad. The fourteen-year-old's face was set, and he nodded at Takuya and the others.

"Spirit Evolution!"

"Agnimon!"

"Blitzmon!"

"Chakmon!"

"Fairymon!"

The burst of energy from the card didn't go unnoticed by the slaves either. Garmmon glanced up at the sky with the longing to see his friends fly past. He would have no chance to escape as long as his family was still in Cell 24, but he could at least try to get a message across. His only hope was that someone would find him—someone would find them all soon.

"Form a barrier around the slaves!" Reiyama ordered. "Under no circumstances must any of them escape."

"Especially you," Renamon commented to Garmmon. "Where's the Kaiser?"

"He's heading off to the front lines," a soldier informed.

"Shoot down anything that flies unless it's the Kaiser's Airdramon squadron," she instructed. "Nothing can be allowed near the halfling, got it? If anyone sees him, kill them."

"Yes, ma'am," the soldier replied, saluting.

"Guilmon, Agumon, Palmon, assist Colonel Reiyama and me in surrounding the halfling," she requested.

"Yes, ma'am," they answered, also saluting.

"No chance of you getting away," Reiyama drawled, taunting Garmmon. The human within the Digimon wanted to scream, but silence had long ago claimed him.

Alice abandoned the red pickup truck she'd hijacked and ran toward her partners. Jenrya was lying on the sand, pale and half-conscious, while Hikari tried to help him to his feet.

"What happened?" Alice asked, returning the D-3.

"My data's going back to the normal, easy-to-delete type," Jenrya replied. "Same thing happened after the D-Reaper. I'll be better soon, after my intestines stop rearranging themselves."

"Are they coming?" Hikari questioned. Alice nodded.

"They'll be here much faster than I was, but they'll arrive via Digimon and not truck."

"All right," Hikari decided, "you head for Kouichi's base while I get Lee to safety."

"Got it," she replied, running for the truck.

"Wait!" Jenrya informed, handing Hikari the D-arc. She quickly tossed it to Alice. "You'll need the compass to find the computer system."

"Don't worry," she assured. "I'll make both the Tamers and the Chosen Children proud." Hooking the D-arc to her belt loop, she climbed into the truck and drove off. Though she wasn't experienced with driving—much less a stickshift—she managed to hurry to the base.

Meanwhile, Jenrya and Hikari watched as Kouichi arrived atop one of three Airdramon. Rushing in to face him were four unidentifiable Digimon.

"I don't have my D-arc to analyze them," Jenrya explained. "Do you know who they are?"

"Yes," Hikari answered. "They're the Chosen Children."

"What?" Jenrya asked. He tried to get up, but the Red Card had taken too much out of him. "But if the Chosen are able to become Digimon, then they must have Spirits, which means…"

"Yes. Kouji is a Chosen Child too. Therefore, that makes him their 'dead' friend and the Kaiser's brother."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

She shrugged. "I didn't think to."

Fairymon stared at Kouichi coldly, thankful that her visor covered her eyes. She could not let him see just how much he'd hurt her. She could tell that Agnimon was of like mind as he kept clenching his fists more and more tightly. Though it had been his idea to make the pact not to remember Kouji's death instead of his life, the loss of his best friend had affected him greatly. They had been the only non-family members that had been closest to him, and so the pain scarred them worst.

"All together," she called. "Brezza Petalo!"

"Burning Salamander!"

"Lightning Blitz!"

"Kachikachi Kochin!"

Kouichi stared back at everyone, never once showing emotion as an attack grazed him. He never responded when Kage fired a burning laser at his arm, narrowly missing his shoulder. And he was still apathetic as he ordered his forces to "Fire at will."

Alice brought the truck to yet another rough stop once she reached the base. The compass on Jenrya's D-arc was reacting strongly to Kouichi's computer, so she knew it was all up to her to save this world.

_This is it, _she realized, _but how am I going to get past all these guards?_

"Need a little help?" a voice questioned, startling her. She turned to see a young man with spiky dark hair, indigo eyes, and gold glasses. Out of instinct, she was on guard, but he produced two empty hands. "I'm not an Imperial. I'm from Hikari Yagami's world. I work with Gennai and Qinglongmon."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

He applied pressure to his left wrist, causing his form to fade back and forth from solid to transparent. "I have a Light Seed—opposite the Dark Seed. Long story, but basically, they only give one to someone they completely trust." She still appeared apprehensive. "My name is Osamu Ichijouji, and I died nearly four years ago. I've been protecting Kouji Minamoto secretly, so his brother doesn't succeed in killing him. I'm the one that told Hikari to come here, and I revealed to her that the same friend the Chosen thought was dead is indeed Kouji."

She blinked a couple of times, absorbing the details. "How can you help me?"

"I can't do anything physically, but I can tell you that the Imperial Guard is concentrating on keeping Garmmon hidden from sight—over there." He pointed to the location. "Naturally, the defense is weakest on the opposite side."

"But it's still heavily guarded," she pointed out.

"Not if you create a diversion," he protested. Her pale blue eyes connected to his medium blue for a moment before landing on the truck.

All was tense at Garmmon's location. The sun was setting, limiting visibility. Sweat beaded down Guilmon's and Agumon's foreheads while some of Renamon's Fox Leaf Arrowheads lit a circle around them. Garmmon couldn't move at all with Reiyama training a gun on him. He struggled to stay calm, but never before had he been in this stressful a situation—not even back in the Digital World. For one of the few times in his life, he found himself wishing something would happen.

And then it did.

A red pickup truck appeared out of nowhere, speeding past them. Agumon spat a Baby Flame at it, assisted by Guilmon who aimed a Fire Ball at it. Renamon fired her Fox Leaf Arrowheads directly at it in an attempt to pop the tires. Soldiers and mercenaries abandoned their posts, sending the slaves they guarded to another group's care.

The diversion worked like a charm, allowing Alice to slip unnoticed into the base via the unguarded opposite side. Following the call of the D-arc's compass, she ran up the ramps of the cellblocks, counting at least fifty on her way to the top level. But finally, panting for breath, she found herself in Kouichi's study. Rather than be impressed by the books all around her, she desperately searched for a computer.

_Where would he keep it?_ she wondered in frustration. A whistle interrupted her. She turned to see Osamu.

"You're in the wrong place. His computer is in his bedroom."

Slightly exasperated, she followed him to the tyrant's sleeping chamber, where he seemed to be sleeping peacefully in black silk sheets. She nearly gasped in surprise, but Osamu had a finger to his lips as an order to keep quiet.

"He's able to create an astral projection of himself to head out into battle," he whispered. "He accidentally did it when he fell in the Shibuya station last year and ended up in the Digital World while his body was comatose—it's hard to explain, but both he and Kouji defy all laws of logic. The Kaiser's hold over his mind gives him the concentration necessary to do it again, but he must sleep while he does this. If things go any further, he won't need to be asleep." Alice nodded in understanding.

A top-quality computer rested on a desk a bit too close to the bed for comfort, but there was no time to worry about that. Rapidly, she turned it on and put her hacking skills to the test while Osamu kept watch for anyone coming their way.

_Work schedule,_ she observed, _cell assignments… Wait…_ "I think I found something."

"The plans?"

"No. There are no plans for an attack against the Resistance, so I assume they're too well hidden or that he never had any to begin with. But I did find something disturbing: 'Friday, sixteenth of May: Rearrange cells after day shift. Terminate Kouji's family.' That's two days away."

Osamu directed many fitting swear words toward Kouichi before calming himself. He glanced at the monarch to see that he was still sleeping, realizing just how much danger he'd just put himself and Alice in. "That bastard is actually going to kill his own family. And he doesn't even dare to call it his. He doesn't even consider Kouji to even be his brother anymore. Bastard."

"There's no way to change that, but I can alter the work schedule so two people from the same cell get to work with him. They could rescue him, but you'll need to see to it that they succeed."

"I may have to break a few rules here and there, but don't worry. I'll get it done." He soon observed that she was complete with her work and was shutting down the computer. "Now you'd better get to your ride."

"What ride?"

He pointed to the window, removing the illusion of a setting sun to reveal Hikari and a healed Jenrya on one of the Airdramon.

"Get on!" Jenrya ordered. "Hurry!"

"Hikari, meet me in the woods near the Railroad," Osamu requested. "There's a piece of unfinished business I want to settle."

"All right!"

Osamu watched them depart, feeling the same thrill he knew Alice had felt too. Though they were not Chosen or Tamers, they'd been able to fight like they were.

_Perhaps I don't have to idly watch after all, _he reasoned as he stared at a caged raven.

* * *

Having bid farewell to Alice and Jenrya, Hikari walked through the woods to encounter Osamu near the Chosen's camp. He stood against a tree in the moonlight, staring thoughtfully at the starry sky.

"You impressed me out there," he commented. "You accepted when you couldn't fight, you followed orders, and you seemed to make some friends."

"But I _didn't_ rescue Kouji."

"I know. That's someone else's job."

Her voice softened considerably when she spoke next. "Alice told us what she found. Do you think Kouichi will really succeed?"

It was his turn to shrug this time. "Only if her plan fails—which it won't. I'll see to it."

"So we just trust it to Fate, right?"

"No. Never trust it to Fate, or it will never get done. It's something I tried to tell Ken for years, but he's only just beginning to listen. Any one person can make a difference, and you were one of those people."

She sighed and looked over at the camp. The children were all sleeping soundly while Yutaka Himi yawned and kept watch. "So what is it you want this time?"

There was no laugh, no grin, no happiness from Osamu Ichijouji this time around. He sighed just as she had and looked over at the latest line of children chosen to fight against the Darkness. "Takuya suffered a lot today, even more than Izumi this time. He couldn't stand being at that beach. I was hoping that you could help me give him peace of mind."

Her voice wasn't sharp or cold as she offered, "What do you want me to do?"

Takuya wandered through the forest to reunite with everyone at camp. He'd just been at the memorial, paying his respects once again. It was another of those days when he felt he couldn't go on, and he asked if he'd made any mistakes in the past that could have brought forth this nightmare.

"You're really beating yourself up about this, aren't you?" commented a familiar voice. Takuya turned to see Kouji leaning against a tree.

"Kouji? Impossible, is it really you?"

"Don't answer my question with another question."

"I'm sorry, it's just… I'm just so glad to see you. Do you know how long it's been since…? We haven't even been able to say your name; we were so broken up. Can you wait for a minute here? I have to get the others!"

"No." Takuya stared at his long lost friend in complete confusion. "I don't have much time. I just wanted you to stop blaming this on yourself, and I figured this was the best way to tell you to stop. Just because you're two Chosen short, you don't have to leave the leading to someone else. You elected yourself as the leader, and we followed you without question. At any time, we could have broken away or elected another leader, but we didn't. If you made a mistake, it didn't matter. What happened happened. There's no way to change the past, and that's what we all learned to deal with. You need to learn it too."

The dream Osamu and Hikari created soon faded from Takuya's mind as a new sense of calm and confidence flooded his subconscious. However, a bit further away, Hikari hit Osamu's arm, berating him.

"He doesn't talk that much," she whispered. "What was the point of having him say more than what's in his character?"

"I needed to get the message across," he defended.

"Do you think this worked?"

"Yeah. He'll know it wasn't real, but as long as he remembers what we told him, he'll be all right. He just needed to know that Kouji forgave him."

Hikari nodded. "You're not that bad, Ichijouji, but don't think that means I like you any more or anything."

A small smile. "Wouldn't dream of it."

* * *

The shield of darkness swayed and the shackles on the wall opened, dropping a bruised Kouji Minamoto to the floor. Nearby was his dirty and bloodstained shirt. His parents and stepmother carefully placed Kouri somewhere safe and frantically ran over to him as he clutched a darkening bruise on his left side. This time, Reiyama and Renamon had joined Kouichi in the daily beating, taking out their anger and frustration over losing the earlier battle with the Resistance.

"_That _was for your attitude this morning," Renamon informed, observing that his eyes were no longer filled with defiance. Rather, they were tired and pain-filled. She produced a single Fox Leaf Arrowhead and jabbed it into his side, drawing blood.

Reiyama clasped both hands together in a fist and struck the boy's left temple, hard. His head slumped onto his stepmother's shoulder as the pain bit into him. The world around him twirled madly, making it impossible for him to cling to reality. For a few minutes, all he was aware of was the pain. But when his family's faces finally came into focus, he had to close his eyes to avoid seeing the hurt his pain caused them.

Kouichi then approached, holding the blade from his whip. "Don't ever forget that you're a slave here. Your life is bound to us, and it is ours to continue or end." Kouji couldn't answer; he could barely even meet his brother's gaze. Enjoying this, Kouichi sliced along the weakened boy's right bicep, provoking a small gasp of agony. This wound was nothing in comparison to the slashes he'd made to the wrists, but it was still an effective warning nonetheless.

They made their exit while the injured boy was carefully laid onto the floor. After trading praise over their choices of blows, Kouichi handed Reiyama a clipboard.

"Cell 22B, Cellblock 31," he informed. "Somehow when I planned this out, I ended up having the same cell two days in a row with this job."

"Their problem," Reiyama answered, taking the clipboard and walking to the correct level.

A human girl and two Child Digimon were eating their dinner when he arrived on the orphan cellblock. They hid the food as though afraid he'd take it away and looked up at him with frightened eyes.

"Yes, sir?" the human asked.

"I'm not here to see you, girl; I'm here about the Kotemon."

The newer of the two Digimon gulped and looked to his friend Koemon for help, almost as though asking what he'd done. The human girl gave him a look to egg him on, so he walked up to the barred door.

"Yes, sir?"

"You're working with Garmmon tomorrow. Don't look for pity."

**For those questioning my sanity, I listed Emily Bindiger as singer of "Key of the Twilight" as well because she sang it in Yuki Kajiura's CD _Fiction._**** The scene with Hikari and Osamu arguing is straight out of _The Pretender_, except we were playing the parts of Miss Parker and Jarod without any romance. The translation for his name came from the shrine To Bring Back Yesterday. **


	8. Keep on Running

_"Oh keep on running, keep on running  
Find out your reality."  
Teenage Wolves, "Tobira"—Digimon 02_

__

Echoes of Angels Who Won't Return  
Epilogue, September 2007: "Keep on Running"  
It was always a treat to see him fight. Though he was the celebrity of the class, he acted and was treated just like everyone else: no better, no worse. And that was just the way he liked it. He'd been given special treatment—be it good or bad—for a good four years now, never seeing it let up. He was often the outcast in school and among other former Resistance fighters. His coach had cut him from the track team, excusing the action on a lack of information from the boy's many changes in schools in the past year alone. He'd known the coach was lying, but he never said or did anything about it. It wasn't that he was saving face; he just didn't want to race on a team that didn't know how to cooperate. People always treated him differently just because of who he was. Sometimes he had to deal with stalkers, but one glimpse of the digivice he wore always scared them away. There were would-be assassins—only one of which had come close to killing him after the fall of the Digimon Kaiser. There were days when he returned home from school with a bloody nose or a cluster of bruises, but he dealt with it on his own. But it _was_ a relief for him to know that there was one place he could go where he would be treated as an equal, and it wasn't just with his family or close-knit band of friends.

His opponent was his own sister, nearly five years old, and very skilled at the art of kendo. Despite the eleven-year age difference between them, they fought on the same level—without either of them giving the other a break. A year ago that day, she would have been a naïve child that needed to think the world around her was safe and that the people around her were immortal, but the assassination attempt the past October had caused her to change her thinking. But the changes in her hadn't shown themselves until the first time her brother had ended up in a fight at school. Her diction and thinking were clearer, but she held onto some childlike qualities just so she couldn't grow up too fast. She still loved playing her same old games, and still thought of her brother as a hero. She knew there were things that bothered him, but she didn't press him on the subject—that was everyone else's job. But like one of the friends that had saved him, she could sense his troubles in the way he fought. He didn't try to release his emotions through fighting—he used his music for that—but he was feeling something that he just couldn't express normally.

"Enough," their sensei informed. The siblings bowed to each other and then to him. "You both have proven your skills at kendo. To tell you the truth, I was afraid of giving you this exercise, but you both demanded to be treated just the same as the other students. You both did very well."

"If you'd please, allow me to be the judge of that," a male voice interrupted politely. The students turned to see a fourteen-year-old Japanese boy with close-cut brown hair and emerald eyes holding a kendo sword. He'd used that sword to defend himself on previous visits, and it was the only weapon—other than a digivice—that he would lift. He'd used a gun once, and he never wanted to see one again.

"And you are?" Sensei questioned, but the normally silent Resistance fighter interrupted.

"It's all right, Sensei. He's a friend."

The younger boy borrowed a helmet and approached his opponent. They bowed to each other and began the exercise. The newcomer attempted a high slash but was blocked. The other fought with old techniques from his five years of fighting while the younger fighter blocked each blow.

As he fought, the outcast student allowed all of his emotions and frustrations to slip away from the bamboo sword. He'd learned long ago not to let his emotions become his downfall. But as he fought, the words of a discussion he'd had with his father and stepmother echoed in his head:

"…I know you're too young right now, but when you're older, we'd like you to be her legal guardian."

"You've always been capable of taking care of her, and if anything happened to us, you're the one person that knows everything about her…"

He'd run out of the house without answering. He didn't stop until he reached the dojo, where he practiced in dark solitude for several hours before class began. He knew he owed his family an apology—he'd even run out on his mother and brother—but the discussion had been too much for him to take. He compared his life at that point to a set of scales—like what the Greek goddess of Justice held. Everything he'd faced for those five years was meticulously balanced out so he could retain his sanity. The proposition had been the single grain of sand that tipped the scale.

His opponent's sword stopped at his neck, ending the exercise.

"Still falling for the same trick," he observed. "You should have learned something after that year."

"Look down," he instructed. His opponent did so, seeing a sword uncomfortably positioned below his chin. Had they been using real weapons, a killing blow would have been scored on either side. It was a draw.

"You _have _improved," he complimented. They withdrew their weapons and bowed to each other before bowing to Sensei.

Once everyone had left, the three removed their helmets. The small girl had shoulder-length brown hair and deep blue eyes while her brother had long bluish-black hair and the same eyes, though his were stained with regret.

"Iori-san!" she greeted the newcomer, hugging him. "What are you doing here? You don't have another peace mission."

"Hikari asked me to give something to your _niisan_, Kouri," he replied before looking up at her brother. "Heard things have been tough for you, Kouji."

At the respective ages of sixteen and fourteen, Kouji and Iori had both changed very much physically as well as emotionally since January of 2003. Kouji had long ago given his bandana to Izumi, but he still wore his hair long and in a ponytail. Iori sported the same type of haircut Koushiro had worn since he was thirteen. Kouji was nearing six feet tall while Iori was about five-foot-six. Both found they could be themselves only around a select group of individuals: For Kouji, it was his brother, sister, Izumi, and sometimes the other Chosen; for Iori, it was Upamon, his mother and grandfather, and sometimes the other Chosen as well. But while Kouji had close ties to some of his friends, Iori had always been a bit of an outcast among his, preferring the company of older, wiser individuals than of the mixed lot of the six Chosen Children he called his friends. As anyone could have predicted, the two were very close friends.

"Things have always been tough," Kouji answered, rubbing his sore and burned hands, "but this time they're just too much."

"I heard about how you were cut from the track team," Iori commented. "And how your dog recently died. And about the Izumi thing." Kouji acted as though he hadn't heard. He and Izumi had just recently called a "cooling-down" period after seeing that they spent most of their time trying to sort through their chaotic lives rather than being together. The time apart would allow them to resituate themselves in school and at home after the long journeys they'd made. If they found new loves in this separation, it was fine, but the hope was that they would get back together after things had settled down. Unfortunately, Kouji knew that such a happy ending wouldn't happen. "Yamato and Sora did something exactly like that during all the fighting," Iori reasoned, "and they're back together again. Things will improve."

"I know they will. Sooner or later." When the decision had been made, he'd felt nothing. He thought that following everything that had happened to him, he'd moved into a state of being in which nothing more could hurt him, where he essentially existed without living. But a few days later when he began playing his music, it had all come out in confused, angry lyrics and an emotionally taxing melody. He'd taken the song and thrown it out, vowing not to let anyone learn about it.

"She was just letting you do what you needed," Iori explained gently. "She knows that even now, you sometimes need to solve your problems on your own or with someone other than her. She's just giving you space."

"I know. But as if all of that wasn't enough, I just made things worse."

"How so?"

"I ran out on my family today."

Iori stared at him in surprise. "Why? I've never known you to run away from a problem."

"I would have five years ago. My dad and Satomi asked me to be Kouri's legal guardian when I'm old enough. They want me to be the one to take care of her if anything happens to them. I guess they had the same types of thoughts I had back in Cell 24."

"Still, you shouldn't have done something like that. You could have hurt them more than you meant to." Leave it to Iori not to feel sorry for him.

"I didn't mean to hurt them… I just…didn't know what to do. I've never been told to take kind of responsibility before."

"That didn't stop you from fighting Cherubimon or Lucemon to save the Digital World," Iori pointed out. "It didn't keep you from protecting your parents, stepmother, and Kouri in Cell 24. It didn't prevent you from rescuing Taichi, Yamato, and Sora from Renamon or helping them rescue Kae, even though you faced severe beatings afterward. You still helped Toshiko escape with Archnemon's help. You still helped Takamoto after he was shot, even though he hadn't done the same for you. You still volunteered to watch over everyone at the caravan infirmary in the Digital World despite the fact that you were also sick. You still gave yourself up in exchange for Izumi's life and then helped Ken and the rest of us look for Kouichi's control center. Then, when you were captured, you single-handedly rescued sixty cellblocks of slaves before finally facing Kouichi. You still gave your sacrifice, as you and Osamu described it." He then handed over a file folder. "And you still kept searching for the answers, even though Hikari, Ken, and everyone else said it was a mistake."

Kouji silently took the folder. There was never any use in arguing with Iori—this much he'd learned in the course of a year.

"There's something more, isn't there?" Kouri asked.

A smile formed on Iori's normally serious face. "Yes," he replied. "And I need you both to follow me."

Confused as to what he wanted to show them, they followed him outside, where a large black-and-brown puppy—easily mistaken for a full-grown dog, except for the fact that it needed quite a bit of taming still—was chained to a bike rack. Iori presented the collar and dog tags, revealing the Minamotos' address.

"Happy birthday, Kouji," Iori commented. "Don't bother asking how much we ended up spending on her—that's a secret not even Gennai can know."

Kouji was still a bit stunned at the sight of the dog that looked so much like the one that had survived the war with them. He didn't need to ask how the Chosen of the other world knew his birthday was September 27—his friends had probably slipped it to them.

It was strange for him to celebrate his birthday on the twenty-seventh. It wasn't just because it had been the second time he could remember that he and Kouichi had celebrated together, but for three years, he'd celebrated on the sixteenth of February: the day on which he considered he'd been reborn. In his eyes, he had done all of his growing on that day in 2003, and he could only physically age now.

"Osamu-san told you his birthday," Kouri realized, sensing it with her gift.

"Yes," Iori answered with a trace of a laugh. "Izumi told him, not realizing who he was."

"When was this?" Kouji questioned.

"March, four years ago," Iori replied.

He didn't need to use the small amount of the gift to figure out what had happened. He had always wondered about the site they now used as a memorial to all those who had died in relation to the war against the evil threatening the Real and Digital Worlds of all three known universes.

"I haven't seen Osamu since after the battle with Kouichi," Kouji confessed. "Did he move on?"

"Yes, but he still watches over Ken. I guess he thinks you're all right to handle things on your own. After all, you've been taking care of yourself for a while now, and you do have your own brother to turn to if you need help." There was an uncomfortable silence for a while. Kouri seemed oblivious to it as she played with the new dog. "We didn't name her, so you could think of any name you wanted."

"But she already has a name," Kouri protested. "It's the only name that feels right for her: Akemi."

Iori nodded his agreement, but Kouji could see tears in the younger boy's eyes. "Akemi it is, then."

"Thanks, Iori," Kouji commented.

"No," he argued. "Thank _you_. You helped me with something no one else could. I have my sanity back, thanks to you."

"But I did nothing…"

"You made your sacrifice, and more than it too. No one told you to have that overdose."

"But I didn't do anything! Dr. Iwahara kept injecting me, and I was so tired that I couldn't stop her."

"But you did, for a while. You kept her occupied for the few seconds it took me to get out of the bathroom. If you hadn't done that, you would have died, and I would have felt that I failed a friend once again. That was a sacrifice you didn't need to make. It was mine." Kouji stared at him in shock. Did he somehow suspect his role in the Mind Illusion? Or had Hikari, Kouichi, or Kouri sensed it? Or had Ken figured it out? Or, perhaps, had Osamu told?

But to the relief of both boys, Kouri changed the subject on them. "Notice anything different about Kouji's voice?"

"Yes, I did," Iori answered, "but I didn't want to seem rude by asking." He then directed his attention back to Kouji. "Your voice isn't as soft as before. Have your vocal cords healed?"

"No. They healed incorrectly a long time ago, but I'm taking voice classes for rehabilitation. It just hurts to talk a lot."

"I'll have to tell Yamato he won't have to increase the microphone's frequency. And your hands? I noticed you were rubbing them."

"Gripping the sword helps stretch the skin, but it's still painful. Only a year to go until I can hold things without pain, according to Dr. Linn."

Iori then bowed. "I'm sorry I have to leave so soon, but I have to let Hikari know I delivered the information. Tell Kouichi happy birthday for me."

"I will. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Kouri looked at the folder suspiciously. "What's in there?"

"Nothing you need to know. Let's get home. I need to apologize to everybody."

* * *

He'd had this nightmare before, but never like this. He was once again bursting through the doors of the operating room, calling out, "_Niisan_!" as he found the motionless figure on the table. This time, however, he saw no doctors, and his friends were not behind him. 

He placed his hand on Kouichi's shoulder, desperately trying to get him to respond. When his attempts failed, he found himself crying, and a single tear landed on Kouichi's forehead. With his limited ability to see Light and Darkness, he was able to see the Power of Light summoning forth Kouichi's soul. Blank eyes filled with life and tears as Kouichi regained consciousness. But rather than appear joyous at the sight of his brother, his face became paler and terrified.

"Kouji, behind you!" he gasped out.

He barely had time to act before a blade was plunged into Kouichi's heart. Kouji grabbed his own chest in pain, feeling the dizzying numbness of death fill all of his muscles. His eyes rolled back into his head as he fell forward to the floor.

Somehow, he felt the sensation of lying on his back. A bright white light was shining onto his body from all around him. Confused, he opened his eyes to see nothing. Some kind of white bandage had been wrapped around his eyes, and it would not come off when he tried to untie it.

He stood up, blindly feeling around for an escape from wherever he was. The walls around him formed a circle or dome and had the distinct feeling of DigiCode. He pounded on them as he tried to get out, but he only succeeding in cutting his wrists.

The blood kept streaming from his wounds, burning his hands as he tried to stop the flow. He felt uncomfortably cold as it became harder and harder to breathe…

"Kouji needs help!"

If not for that desperate cry from Kouri, Kouji was sure he would have suffocated. His chest was constricted, making breathing painful. He was surprised to see his light was still on across the room at his desk. His family appeared to be surprised too as they were squinting to see him.

"You fell asleep in your clothes?" Kousei observed. "You haven't done that since we left the settlement." Kouji looked at him, confused. "You had just come home from kendo practice and apologized to us, and to your mother and Kouichi on the phone. You said you needed to do some homework, so you came up here and…" Kouji's face still expressed his puzzlement as he glanced at his desk, seeing a file folder. All the pieces began to fall into place, and he tried to get up but found that his legs were nearly paralyzed, as though asleep. "Is something the matter?"

"I can't move too well," he confessed. His breathing sounded shallow. Following a hunch, Satomi came up to him and felt his forehead to see that it was warm. "It's just from sleeping with the light on…" he tried to protest, but he could not account for his clammy skin and constricted breathing. It was no sticky, hot, Tokyo night in summer; but a breezy, cool, Yokohama night in autumn. And he was sick.

"You're burning up," she stated. "Forget about school tomorrow and that concert Tuesday night. You're spending the rest of the week in bed."

"I can't. I promised the others…"

"Unless you improve by then, you're not going—regardless of your promise or not. Now, I'm going to find the thermometer…"

"No, you don't have to," Kouji protested, but the effort of talking caused him to choke. He covered his mouth as he continued coughing, feeling fluid rise up from his lungs. He managed to get his feet to the floor, but he didn't have the strength to walk to the bathroom. To his surprise, though, Akemi came over to help him keep his balance, just as her predecessor had on that January so many years ago.

"I'll get your medicine," Kousei volunteered despite his son's arguments.

It had taken Kouji several months after his first adventure in the Digital World to realize it, but he had a condition called an "idiopathic infiltrative lung disease" that caused the air sacs in his lungs to fill up with fluid—much like with asthma. Unfortunately for him, asthma was not the case and there seemed to be no explanation for his condition except that he'd probably developed it after facing down the Raremon when he'd first evolved. The condition had first shown itself there, so it was speculated that some of the polluted green sludge had somehow damaged his lungs. He normally didn't have much of a problem with it unless he strained his body too much or got sick with a cold or the flu. Over the years, he'd conditioned himself with his Resistance training to avoid the consequences of the condition, but he could not always prevent himself from catching a cold.

To combat it, he had to take an injection of a medication Takamoto and Dr. Yamamoto had developed. An inhaler proved useless as he could barely breathe once the coughing fits started, and pills were barely any better if he started throwing up. An injection to an artery in his upper arm proved to be the most useful solution, even though he'd despised needles since he left Cell 24 four years before. This time, Dr. Yamamoto decided to put him on a stronger prescription to see if any changes could be made sooner.

Kouri walked over to the desk and picked up Kouji's D-scanner. For a while, she had been afraid of it, knowing the Kaiser was imprisoned inside. She knew there were days when Kouji was afraid of it too, but the evil entity could not escape. And now, seeing the symbol of the Spirit of Darkness on the screen eased her fears a bit more; her other brother was trying to communicate.

"Kouichi _niisan_, Kouji's too sick to talk to you right now," she alerted.

"I know. I heard him fighting with Dad just a second ago. I guess Kouji's still not good with needles—not that I blame him after what happened last year and all those years before. I just wish there was a way he wouldn't be haunted by everything."

"So you saw his nightmare too?"

Kouichi momentarily marveled at the change in his younger sister's vocabulary. She was slipping into her more mature persona again, only now she seemed almost permanently set in that way. "I'm surprised _Hikari_didn't see it. It was like an explosion!"

"And this is what I always see," Kouri explained, "when he tries to push me away."

"Don't take it too personally, Kouri. He does that to everybody—always has."

"But not like this. There's something he really wants to hide."

"Yeah. But he'll never tell what it is." Kouichi's voice held a tinge of guilt.

There was the sound of even more ferocious coughing from the bathroom. Both Kouichi and Kouri suspected that their brother was having a hard time staying conscious as the fluid left his lungs.

"Oh no," he moaned weakly.

"Sounds like he threw up," Kouichi observed.

"I don't think so," Kouri replied. "I think that was blood."

"Drink some water and then head back to your room," their father advised. "I'll phone Dr. Yamamoto and tell him this dosage is too strong."

"I get the feeling I won't sleep tonight," Kouri commented.

"Why is that?" Kouichi questioned.

"Kouji works really hard to build a barrier to keep our thoughts from overlapping—I think he says. It works most of the time, but if he's really tired or sick, the barrier collapses. I don't know how to make one yet, and you've been doing it for years, though you didn't know it; so now that he's sick, I'm going to be feeling everything, and you'll get nothing. In the daytime, it's okay, but at night…"

"Borrow his CD player and listen to it whenever the imagery wakes you up," Kouichi suggested. "It works for me when my barrier collapses."

"Okay." Kouji then walked in, coughing blood into a wad of tissues. "Kouichi wants to talk to you. I'm borrowing your CD player so I can go to bed."

Kouji took his D-scanner while Kouri left. "Yeah?"

"You sound terrible—worse than I thought."

"Thanks." The word dripped with sarcasm.

"Sorry. But what happened? You normally don't have dreams that vivid, even when you're sick." He was silent for a moment, but when he continued, his voice was much lower. "I assume Hikari found information."

Kouji looked down at the folder on his desk. "Yeah. It took her a while, but she found it all."

"What was there?"

"He was a child abuser and murderer and on death row for two years until you showed up." He took the folder and all of its contents and threw it in a small trashcan nearby. "Except for that last part, I could have told them all of it."

"Yeah. Releasing him was the biggest mistake I made."

"Why did he listen to you?" Kouji asked. "If he was having so much fun beating the crap out of me and killing everyone that tried to help me, why did he follow your orders? Why didn't he try to do the same to you that he did to me?" There was no answer. "_Niisan_?"

On the other end of the line, in his dark bedroom in a small apartment in Tokyo, Kouichi smiled. His twin hadn't called him that in five years. "_Ototo-chan_, I agree with you that Reiyama had no redeemable qualities, but the man did repay his debts. Because I set him free, he felt indebted to me and followed my every command. Of course, that didn't stop him from having some fun on his own once I wasn't around, but you already know that as well."

"Yeah," Kouji answered, remembering the time Reiyama had forced him to work with his parents on the day shift even though he couldn't see or walk. Renamon had to retrieve him, showing the first of two kindnesses she'd given him.

"Is that it?"

"No. Kouichi, there's something I've wanted to know. I've been trying to ask for months, but I never could."

"What?"

"For three years I tried to convince myself that everything you did was the Kaiser controlling you, but I never could answer the question of why the Kaiser was able to do that. Then, when I fought him, he told me something I didn't want to believe, and it's been haunting me ever since. He implied that you did a lot of it on your own." There was silence on the other end. "He said that the gift—just knowing every moment of my life while I know every moment of yours—drove you crazy."

"It did," Kouichi admitted. "And it still does. I have a wall around my emotions, something that I use to keep from feeling pain when I lose someone I care for. That was how I felt little sorrow over my—_our_ grandmother's death. Neither of us was meant to feel any type of closeness like that. It was enough to kill us slowly. We're developing these relationships finally, but we were never exposed to them before, making us vulnerable to these sorts of things."

"But you just said it," Kouji argued. "I was exactly the same: I shielded my emotions and pushed everyone away. I could never maintain friendships. Why is it that the Kaiser controlled_ you_?"

"Kouji, there's something you need to understand. You were much more compassionate than I was—remember when we were in the Digital World? Your first thought was of every person on the team. I was always protective of you, just the way a brother should be, but I couldn't be as tightly emotionally attached to anyone: not you, not Izumi, not anyone. With your help and Kouri's and Ken's and Sakiko's and everyone else's, I'm no longer isolated; I can become attached to people without fear of losing them. There was a long period in my life in which I hated the side of my family I didn't know. But when I found out about you, I thought it would be the chance to understand our family, to learn who we were. But there was that same part of me hating you, something Cherubimon exploited. No matter how much I've been through, I can't erase that part of me. And that's what the Kaiser used. There are more reasons, but I don't know what they are, and you shouldn't try to find them. Until either of us can answer why Cherubimon used me as Duskmon, we'll never know why I was the second Kaiser." It was Kouji's turn to be silent. "I'm sorry."

"No. I understand it all a lot better now. And I don't blame you for what happened."

"Thank you." An uncomfortable silence ensued. Was this the way their lives were destined to be? Awkward silences and cruel truths? It was the harsh reality they could never run away from.

"Why is it that we never end up with anything good happening to us?" It was Kouji who asked this, not surprising the other twin. "Whenever something good does happen, it's immediately followed by sorrow. Why is that?"

"I don't know. I wouldn't say it's Destiny after learning how much Osamu hated that excuse." Kouji nodded, remembering well the spirit of the dead eleven-year-old boy who had "adopted" them as younger brothers. "It's probably just another lesson to us so we can cope."

"A cruel thesis," Kouji commented, remembering a song with a similar title.

"Well, we'd both better get some sleep. I heard what Satomi said about the concert. It's in five days; are you sure you'll be better by then?"

"I made a promise to everyone that I'd do it, and I have no intention of breaking it now."

Kouichi smiled. "And this coming from the person who actually _did_ surprise Izumi on her birthday by being alive. You're always good with your promises."

"Goodnight."

"'Night."

It seemed that for once in their lives, something good was finally happening to them. As long as they had each other to depend on, as long as they had their family and friends, they didn't need a fairytale ending. They could live happily ever after even with these losses.

* * *

"A few steps more… Just a little more…" 

"Daisuke, I can do this. I've been blind for four years after all."

"Sorry."

Natsu guided herself toward the six new people, using her white cane. Her honey-colored hair was cut to just below her earlobes and was offset perfectly by her sightless amethyst eyes and matching blouse and cardigan. With them, she wore silky black pants and a gold necklace. Beside her was Daisuke, dressed in denim cargo pants, a black T-shirt, and the flame-covered jacket he'd finally gotten back from Ken. Naturally, atop his spiky auburn hair were his goggles.

Takeru stood behind them, wearing Taichi's old coat with the paw-prints, sand-colored khakis, and a rust-colored turtleneck reminiscent of Ryo's. A bit further away from him was Hikari, who wore her dark purple jacket-shirt combo from New York, a black skirt embroidered with a rose, and her beige beret. Beside her was Iori, donning a coat like his one from the Digital World, a white shirt under that, and dark brown khakis. Standing almost at eye level with him was Miyako, who wore the same turquoise blouse and sea foam skirt from Australia, but with a white velour jacket and no hat. A bit behind them all was Ken, who opted to wear black jeans and a dark gold T-shirt with the jacket once worn by both Ki and Amistad.

The older, more "adult," Chosen stood in back. Yamato wore all black: jeans, tank top, and shoes. At his side was Sora, who wore a silky cream-colored long-sleeved blouse and pale blue jeans. Taichi wore the headband he used to wear with his goggles, and sported a black shirt with a blue-and-white plaid flannel shirt and a pair of navy blue nylon cargo pants. Koushiro wore an orange T-shirt and zipped-up black fleece jacket with a pair of tan pants. Jyou was dressed in a buttoned white shirt, a pair of jeans, and a black nylon windbreaker. Mimi was absent, and would receive a tape of the concert.

After three years and so many changes, things were slowly going back to normal for the inhabitants of both worlds; however, the ramifications of the revolutions still remained. Nations such as China, Cuba, Iraq, and many others that had been under dictatorship or Communism before the rise of the Kaiser had enjoyed their brief stint of freedom, and refused to go back out of fear of another crazed ruler. The Chosen who had fought the original Kaiser assured their friends that something similar had occurred following the Second Gulf War and the capture of their version of Saddam Hussein in Operation: Red Dawn back in December of 2003. The United Nations and the former Resistance were working together on peace talks to set up democracies in these countries so the people could embrace the freedom they'd finally been allowed to have. And as more and more "halfling" children were being born to human and Digimon parents, civil rights laws were put into effect that would allow both Digimon and half-Digimon hybrids to be accepted as equal citizens on Earth while the hybrids and humans were to be accepted as equals in the Digital World. In that aspect, the existence of the Digimon Kaiser had been quite beneficial.

The Chosen Children themselves were permanently marred by their battles. Kouji, of course, had quite a bit to deal with and few people to lean on, but in addition to that, he was an ambassador to the other world along with Kage and Sakiko. Izumi was busy settling in with her family after being separated from them for so long, finding that she had to readjust to speaking Italian with them again. The three who had accompanied Kage in the Digital World were finally out of their remedial classes and assisting in teaching the next generation of soldiers the values of the tight bonds the Resistance had learned to form. Kouichi had been on trial for his war crimes, only managing to avoid prison or the death sentence by forging a compromise: psychiatric help once a month for the next fifteen to twenty years. If he missed even one session without a reasonable excuse, he would be immediately arrested. He assured that he would not miss a session.

Takeru and Hikari never made up. True, they could now tolerate each other, and they were no longer enemies, but they were still distant when it came to friendship. Miyako had begun a successful relationship with Ryo Akiyama while Wallace and Mimi remained as they had been for those years. Ken, Daisuke, and Iori were the ambassadors representing their world in the Legendary Warriors' home, and they occasionally lived there for a few weeks at a time. Daisuke's role as leader was reaffirmed; though he was still unable to do the things he once had been able to. On his stays, he regularly assisted other people who had become disabled due to the war and became one of the most beloved of the other world's Chosen. Iori of course formed a good friendship with Kouji, as both had lost the most in the five months after BelialVamdemon's defeat and Kouichi's becoming the new Kaiser. The two sparred each other in kendo whenever one visited the other's world, no longer fighting against their pasts but fighting for a hopeful future. Ken maintained a friendship with Kouichi and Kouji, but he most regularly kept in touch with Archnemon, surprising even himself with the action. He never once saw Osamu again after the meeting in the Railroad, but he felt his brother's presence watching over him at all times.

"Natsu Kiyosaki, meet Takuya Kanbara, Junpei Shibayama, Tomoki Himi, Kouichi Kimura, Izumi Orimoto, and Kouji Minamoto," Daisuke introduced.

"Nice to meet you all," she replied, shaking their hands. But when she reached Kouji, she observed something out of the ordinary. "Your palm's sweaty. Are you nervous?"

"No," he answered, pulling it back. "I've just been sick all week."

"I'm sorry to hear that. But I'm glad to see that you were able to make it. You're different from other people, and you don't give off the same radiance Hikari does. Sometimes it's hard to look at her."

"But I thought you were blind," Izumi interrupted.

"I am legally," Natsu explained, "but in some ways, my vision hasn't been worse. I can differentiate light and darkness even if it's just the manifested energy from the Digital World. Hikari positively glows with it, but Kouji seems to keep it inside."

"That's Kouji all right," Takuya replied. "He keeps everything on the inside. Nearly impossible to read him."

"Do you mind if I ask you to describe what you're wearing?" Natsu interrogated. "Daisuke gave descriptions of you all, but I'd like to have a clearer mental image."

Takuya looked at everyone. "That would be all right, I guess."

"Okay. Kouichi, I'd like to start with you. I've heard you look a lot like Ken, so I'd like to prevent the images from overlapping."

"All right," he answered. "I'm wearing a long-sleeved black T-shirt, dark blue jeans, and brown sneakers."

"Kouji?"

"Yellow T-shirt, gray athletic pants, a blue fleece jacket, and white sneakers." Momentarily, he glared at Yamato, Sora, and Taichi for finding clothes exactly like the ones he wore in Cell 24. They just smiled innocently in response.

"Your hair is tied back, right?"

"Yes, with something a friend gave me once."

"Okay, Izumi, I'll go onto you next."

"I'm in a light blue Chinese-styled blouse, light purple velour pants, and brown Roman-styled sandals that tie around my ankles. A few strands of hair in the front are tied with a beaded leather strip."

"Tomoki?"  
"Swamp green T-shirt, black pants, and red tennis shoes."

"Junpei?"

"Green-and-red plaid shirt over a white T-shirt and green pants."

"And Takuya?"

"Orange T-shirt, red surf shorts, and a black leather jacket."

"And your goggles of course."

"Of course."

"Well, we'll see each other again after the concert," Natsu realized, observing the sounds of restless fans. "We'd better get back to our seats. Till then, bye!"

* * *

Kouji watched the whole concert from backstage, half-anticipating and half dreading his cue. With him was a slightly older boy by the name of Hiroshi, who was one of the Dark Seed Chosen Children. 

"Will you relax?" Hiroshi begged. "You'd think an attack was about to happen."

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "But you're going up too. Aren't you a little nervous?"

"Nope. Been in band for six years, even though I'd rather draw _manga_. It's really not much to worry about, so relax and enjoy everything. Remember: nobody knows you out there. You're not hero of the wars, you're not a halfling curse, you're not an ambassador from another world, you're not 'the Kaiser's brother,' but you're just a regular guy who's getting a break others would kill for. Once the music starts, you won't even remember where you are anymore."

Nodding, he tried to enjoy himself. The Teenage Wolves were performing several recognizable songs: "Hitoribotchi no Shīsō," "Tobira," "Walk on the Edge," and "Negai Kanaeru Kagi." But there were a few that were new, like the blues song "Life is a Fatal Condition." Yamato had apparently written it during the winter of 2003, during a hard time in his life. Kouji knew exactly how he must have felt; that winter had been hard for him too. The more the songs dwindled down, the more anxious he felt. He'd never sung on stage before; his music had always been private.

Finally, "Tobira" ended, yielding to a loud reaction of applause from the audience. Yamato patiently waited for the cheering to die down before he continued.

"Thank you, everyone. We have something special for you all tonight—something so special we had to call in a member of the Jonan High School band." Hiroshi walked out, toting his saxophone. He waved at the audience before taking his position in front of a microphone. "Now, Hiroshi has agreed to help us with this because the lyricist and singer wrote this song to have a jazz quality, something that we can't capture alone. My friend Taichi, my girlfriend Sora, and I all owe our lives to this person, so I offered to give this world a taste of his sound as a way of saying thanks. Everyone, Kouji Minamoto!"

A wave of vertigo splashed over him as he walked out on stage and took his place in front of the mike. Hoping his voice didn't sound too nervous, he informed the audience, "This is called 'In the Blue,'" and tried not to be sick. It was ironic: Nothing could stop him from fighting that war against his own brother, but he couldn't find the nerve to sing in front of a group of people.

But when the music started, he found himself completely enthralled in it. The enchanting melody he'd created for that purpose removed him from this terrifying hell of an auditorium and placed him in the one place where he felt most confident.

It wasn't at home.

It wasn't in the Digital World.

It was in Cell 24.

How ironic. The song had been sung in order for him to forget being there, and yet he found himself half-wishing to return when he felt somewhat afraid.

But rather than seeing a dark and damp hellhole, he felt himself sitting against the wall in that corner again, the light of the Fox Leaf Arrowhead lanterns illuminating the scenery around him while a shaft of moonlight streamed down on him from a window that had never been there. He soon saw past the image to a few rows in the auditorium, where his friends sat. They had always been there, and always would be. Encouraged by what he saw, by what he knew, he took hold of the microphone.

**The "cruel thesis" thing is from the _Evangelion_theme (coincidentally, "Cruel Angel's Thesis" is also the title of the sequel).**

**End couplings count: Sorato. Implied Daisuke/Natsu. Wallace/Mimi. Ryo/Miyako. Jenrya/Alice. Implied Jurato. No Ryuki, Kouzumi, Takari, or any other popular couplings.**

**And, though it took me a whole year, I finally remembered where I got the idea for the change of Kouji's birthday: Briar's decision to choose a birthday when he stopped being the thief Roach from Deadman's District and became the kid mage Briar Moss (_Circle of Magic: Briar's Story_). Took me long enough to figure it out.**


End file.
